About Me

I live in the Cedar Hill area of Pakenham Ward (Mississippi Mills, Ontario) with my wife Amelia Ah You on a 125-acre hobby farm. We have a vegetable garden and keep a few chickens in a great century barn. We rent out pasture to a "real" farmer. I harvest dead or damaged trees from our 90 acres of bush and heat our house almost entirely with firewood.

I am 58-years-old. I work part time as a contract technical writer. My "semi-retirement" status provides plenty of time to represent Ramsay Ward in a Councillor’s role.

Political Philosophy

University of Chicago legal scholar, Martha Nussbaum, said this in a Globe & Mail interview in June 2010: "And that's what democracy has always required, ever since the time of Socrates – not just accepting what's passed down from some kind of authority, but thinking critically about it, examining yourself and figuring out what you really want to stand for. And then having debates in that spirit of respectful critical inquiry with other people…"

Why I Ran in Ramsay

While I live in the Pakenham Ward, I chose to represent Ramsay Ward for three reasons:

1. There were two good, new candidates running in Pakenham and I didn't want to get in their way.
2. I lived on the 4th line of Ramsay Township from 1990 to 2001. I continue to have many friends and supporters in Ramsay.
3. Rural issues are almost the same in Ramsay and Pakenham; so, good decisions in one reflect in the other.

Affiliations

I believe in community involvement and volunteering.

I am the Vice Chair of the Five Arches Non-profit Housing Corporation in Pakenham. I previously sat on the board of the Clayton Seniors Housing Corporation. During the drafting of the Mississippi Mills official plan, I was a founding member and chair of the Rural Advisory Committee, one of the groups that participated in the official plan consultations. When Ramsay was independent, I chaired a volunteer committee that helped gather citizen input into Ramsay's last official plan.

I believe in listening to diverse opinions and a wide range of topics. Left, right, and centre have something to contribute. I am a founding member of the Mississippi Mills Residents Association (MMRA) and the Alliance for Fair Taxation (AFT). I am a member of the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists and the Lanark Landowners Association.

AFT panel members answer questions at the AFT's public meeting on septage in Pakenham, August 2009. From right to left: Phil Warland, Shaun McLaughlin (now a Ramsay Councillor), Ron Burgess, Bill Duncan, and Amanda Gorman.

Thank you for visiting this blog.

Sincerely,
Shaun McLaughlin