I was born and raised here in London, Ontario.  After graduating from Oakridge Secondary School, I moved east down the 401 to attend Queen’s University at Kingston.  I met my lovely partner in life, Megan, at Queen’s.  We convocated in 2002 and moved to Toronto, and lived a big adventure for a little over five years.  I first worked for a little non-profit called Meal Exchange, which has a mission of engaging youth to address poverty in their communities, and then moved on to the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, which lobbies government on behalf of Ontario students.

When the time came to start a family we made the decision to move away from the hustle and bustle of the Big Smoke, and move home to London. It was a tough decision leaving Toronto, but we have no regrets (other than missing some of our favourite restaurants.) Both Megan and I have found great jobs within London’s non-profit sector, and have begun to settle in and make friends from within the talented group of young professionals and dreamers who want to make this city a better place. 

We’ve been back a little over 3 years, and have started to get involved in our community - my motivation for community involvement is to make London a better place for our daughter, Ava, but also to do my bit to help London transition from our ‘old economy’ past into the more diverse, creative, and progressive city we’ll need to be in the future.

You can call me a bleeding heart commie socialist, but I believe a city is more than sewers, stop signs, police and garbage collection.  We’re all in this together, and I believe our responsibility to community goes beyond paying taxes and keeping our yards neat and tidy - it means parks, public art (even if the art is kind of strange, like metal trees), culture, helping people down on their luck get back on their feet, smart transit, festivals (even ones that make noise!), and a whole host of other initiatives that strengthen both the social and economic fabric of London. Not all community-ills can be solved by government - in fact, individuals, community groups, non-profits, and neighbourhoods can be exponentially more effective than government - but government, at its best, can be the gel that makes everything come together.

Anyway, I’ll share my thoughts on local, provincial and national politics; technology, pop culture, food and random Geekery will creep into from time to time as well.  I hope to provoke thought and change minds, move forward issues I care about, and hopefully make people laugh along the way.

Thanks for reading.

Scott Courtice