Rick Borotsik was born September 8, 1950 in Brandon, Manitoba. His school years were spent in Brandon and he graduated from Brandon University in 1972. In 1978 Borotsik was elected as a Brandon City Councilor. Borotsik was elected Mayor in 1989 and served as head of City Council until 1997. During his tenure Borotsik brought the Canada Games and the World Curling Championships to the City of Brandon, attracting a substantial amount of tourism and interest to the quiet city.

In 1997 Borotsik was elected as a Progressive Conservative Party MP for the federal Riding of Brandon-Souris. He was re-elected in 2000. Borotsik was one of the few Progressive Conservative Members of Parliament to be elected from the West during the latter years of the Progressive Conservative Party's existence when much of the party's base of support was centralized in the Maritimes as opposed to the Canadian Alliance dominated Prairies. Borotsik was viewed by most to be a staunch Red Tory, being notably supportive of official bilingualism and highly critical of privatized healthcare initiatives. Borotsik supported former Prime Minister Joe Clark's PC Leadership bid in November 1998 and former Nova Scotian Tory MP Scott Brison's PC Leadership bid in June 2003. Borotsik was openly critical of the process utilized in Autumn 2003, by the newly elected Tory Leader Peter Mackay to ratify a merger between the Canadian Alliance and the federal PC Party. Unlike many Red Tory MPs, Borotsik did not bolt immediately from the new Conservative Party of Canada (C.P.C.) Caucus to the Liberal Party or sit as an independent. Borotsik remained active in the federal Caucus until the federal election was called by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in June at which point Borotsik announced his official retirement from politics. Brandon-Souris' new MP is Merv Tweed (C.P.C.).

In the early months of Stephen Harper's leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, Borotsik was one of two Conservative MPs (the other was Chuck Cadman) who did become publicly disgruntled with Harper's leadership style, policy and the governance procedures of the new party. At his official announcement of political retirement Borotsik stated, "I got involved with Jean Charest and Joe Clark because I knew what their vision of the country was. I knew that they actually understood the differences and diversity between Atlantic Canada and B.C. and Quebec and Manitoba. I don't believe that a regional party with the regional ideology of Stephen Harper can reflect that."

Borotsik remains active behind the scenes of the new party, pushing party members and officials t adopt moderate Red Tory policies.