ACW Council Candidate: Tony McQuail

By: Kate Smith

Having lived in ACW since he was 18 years old, Tony McQuail came to Canada as a war resister to the Vietnam War.

Today, McQuail is running for a position on ACW Council.

McQuail is running to be a member of council to ensure that choices made locally help the community preserve the thing they value in a fair and equitable way.

“It is not about my vision – it needs to be our vision – a shared vision developed as a community,” said McQuail.

“We live in an ecologically and socially rich and diverse community.  We need to ensure that we protect and preserve the natural beauty and richness of our land and waters while we use them for our livelihoods.”

Over the years McQuail has served as the Huron County Board of Education trustee for three terms for Ashfield and West Wawanosh townships in the 1980s.

He also served as the Executive Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in the early 1990s, as well as running in both federal and provincial elections over the years.

Over the years McQuail has been a 4H leader, youth soccer coach, served on the Huron Federation of Agriculture and the National Farmers Union Huron Local and active in HAWK theatre.

He’s currently on the board of North Huron Publishing, treasurer of the National Farmers Union Huron Local and active with the Growing Rural Environmental Action Network.

It’s these experiences, coupled with his experience as a Holistic Management Certified Educator, that will be an asset to his role as a councillor.

McQuail believes that at its best, democracy helps find collective wisdom, and to do that, he wants everyone to listen to each other around the council table and with constituents.

If elected, McQuail would like to make council meetings more accessible, by bringing back the evening sessions to ensure people have an opportunity to share their voice and ideas.

McQuail’s top three priorities include returning to evening council meetings, examining the value of returning to a ward system for better representation, and examining proposals for development and growth to ensure they support values of rural communities and enhance the ecological health of the lands and waters.

With values in stewardship, integrity, community, equality, simplicity and peace, McQuail believes in nurturing a community and strengthening areas of resilience for both natural and economic issues.

McQuail is hopeful that ACW Council can strengthen the involvement and participation of residents in the work, and in the decision-making, throughout the term and not just at election time.

Having lived in ACW for over 53 years McQuail says he knows the area is diverse with farmers, cottagers, villagers, rural residents, small businesses and the old order Amish.

McQuail stresses the need for everyone contributing to discussions as a municipality, so the decisions made work well for the diverse community of ACW. 

During his campaign, McQuail did not put up signs but instead made a donation to the Huron-Perth United Way with the money saved.

Each candidate was presented with the same interview questions. What is presented in these profiles, is a result of the responses received.