As a paramedic, Chris Broughton has spent the past 12 years saving lives.
Now as a trustee with Manitoba’s largest school division, the Flin Flon native will work on shaping them.
At just 33, Broughton was elected last week to the Winnipeg School Division board of
trustees.
“It’s one thing to express your ideas, but if you believe in them you should go out and try to make them happen,” says Broughton.
Broughton, a Hapnot Collegiate graduate, hopes to use his relative youth – he is currently the school board’s youngest member – to his advantage.
“I think there is an opportunity to bring some youthful energy and even innovation to policies and procedures that are set out by the school division,” he says. “And also being a young parent with children in the school system, I have a vested interest in where these policies and the direction of the school division take.”
Left hometown
Born and raised in Flin Flon, Broughton worked as a volunteer firefighter and paramedic in his hometown before moving to Winnipeg in 2003 to accept a position as a paramedic.
He quickly earned the respect of his colleagues. In 2008 he became one of the youngest – if not the youngest – presidents in the history of the Winnipeg paramedics’ union.
“I guess people just believed in my values and believed in the energy that I brought to my role,” he says, “and felt I was competent to achieve what paramedics were setting out to achieve.”
When it came to public office, Broughton says he did not always have a desire to get involved, but he has long strived to find solutions and work toward a better community.
He’s also no stranger to the education system. In addition to having two children, son Kyran, 6, and daughter Keandra, 4, in school, his wife Tashina (nee Morin), also a Flin Flon native, is a teacher.
Since school trustee is by no means a full-time job, Chris Broughton will continue to work as a paramedic.
