Maggie Laidlaw

Maggie Laidlaw currently serves as City Councillor, Ward 3, of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

An active participant in the Guelph community and a member of city council since 2000, Maggie is passionate about protecting the environment, promoting local arts and culture, social justice issues, and nurturing Guelph’s vibrant downtown core. Some have sked her why she decided to jump back into the municipal arena after deciding to resign in July of 2013. Here is her response:

When I announced last year that I would not run again, I did so with some misgivings, particularly as I knew there was an extreme right-wing candidate just waiting to take over my place at council. Therefore, I approached four people who lived in Ward 3 and who were on the progressive side of the political spectrum. Phil Allt was one of the four. The responses were decidedly mild: two, including Phil, said they were thinking about it, one was somewhat undecided and one was definitely not interested. A couple of months later, still with no definitive responses from anyone I had approached, I changed my mind about stepping down, for several reasons. First, I knew that the decidedly “unprogressive” Craig Chamberlain was breathing down my neck, and had made no pretence of the fact that he was definitely going to run for a third time. Secondly, the lack of any further response from the people I had approached was somewhat of a disappointment to me, and I felt that it indicated if not a lack of interest then definitely a lack of enthusiasm. Finally, there were several environmentally-important and/or socially-progressive projects and initiatives that would either come into being, progress further or be completed during the next term of council. They included (and this list is not exclusive) the local energy distribution project, the wellness initiative, the Yorklands (former reformatory) proposals, the recommendations of the Anti-poverty task force, and, of course, the Baker Street redevelopment/library project. I felt that needed and wanted to be there to continue to champion those initiatives.

Therefore, I announced that I would seek re-election, and this announcement was posted in the local press:
Nov 19, 2013
Guelph Coun. Maggie Laidlaw will seek re-election
Guelph Mercury
By Vik Kirsch
GUELPH—Veteran Guelph city Coun. Maggie Laidlaw announced Tuesday she isn’t retiring after all.
It’s a critically important time for the city, with major projects like downtown redevelopment and city-wide economic investment proposals on the horizon, said the fourth-term Ward 3 councillor…..

Learn more about Maggie, or explore issues Maggie cares about.