Terry Shortt

Ameliasburgh Ward Four

If there is anyone around these parts that can play a “County” card it’s Terry Shortt. Born and raised in the County, his family has roots in this area that date back to 1792. In fact, Shortt still owns a piece of the original parcel. For 32 years he has owned his own electrical company, Terry Shortt Electrical Services, which at its peak employed 25 electricians and specialists.

For the past eighteen years, Shortt has dedicated a great deal of his time to Shire Hall and representing the community that he feels so closely tied to. He is looking for a fifth term on council and Shortt hopes to do it by running out of his Ward. When asked why the switch, Shortt said that the person currently sitting in his Ward is doing a good job, so he didn’t want to break any momentum that he may have going. With Dianne O’Brien jumping into the mayoral race, it left what Shortt thought to be an opportunity in Ameliasburgh.

Shortt became interested in politics after being approached by someone on council. His father and other influential people in the area also wanted him to get involved, so after giving it some thought, he decided that his business background would be a good mix to what was needed at council and a career in local politics was born. But the seeds were already planted. Shortt was the Chair of the Planning Committee for four years and vice-chair for two years previous to that. He also sat as the Chair of the Economic Development Committee for four years.

“I like to be involved in the community. I like to see things happen. I’ve never been one to sit back and watch. I like to be right up to my elbows in it,” says Shortt.

Taxation and the proper spending of the tax dollars is on Shortt’s radar as being of major concern. Property taxes, Infrastructure and getting the roads repaired are also things people are talking about in Ward Four.

From his four terms of experience, and from working previously with councillors from Ameliasburgh, Shortt gets the feeling that the residents of Ward Four feel both alienated and separated from the regular day-to-day goings on in the County. He hopes to change that mentality by offering his years of talent knowledge to the cause of inclusion.

One thing that Shortt sees as a big opportunity for the upcoming council will be how close the connection can become to Queen’s Park with Todd Smith playing a key role in Doug Fords cabinet.

“This is the first time in eight years where are kind of sitting in the cat-bird seat for a change. Our MPP is highly-regarded and he’s in the ruling party, which is something we haven’t seen in a long time. Hopefully we can start to address issues like Highway 49, and we can only do that by building stronger ties to our government,” says Shortt.

The hospital is another topic of discussion, and a theme that threads through all the candidates for their election platforms. Health care and caring properly for the needs of our community is always at the top of the list for priorities, and Shortt is impressed with the way the Hospital Association and the other committees around it have really driven the message out to the community and have managed to raise a significant amount of money already. If that momentum can continue then Shortt thinks we will be in a good place when the money is needed the most.

“The County being the size it is and the distances that you have travel from places like South Bay is too long a stretch for an emergency situation. We need a hospital here, and it needs to be a fully functioning hospital, not just a transfer station,” says Shortt.

One other reason Shortt wants to run for council is with the influx of people and companies coming to the County, there is a worry that the people running the show will only see the dollar signs, and not about how those dollars may affect the current residents as well.

“When the place where you live becomes more of a commodity than a community, there’s a problem, and I want to be there to help council deal with this issue,” says Shortt.