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Sue Doughty-Smith
Sue Doughty-Smith was born in Southern Ontario and moved to Thunder Bay just before her secondary school years began. After completing high school, she worked as a flight attendant for a small airline in northern Manitoba on scheduled and charter flights to remote communities in Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. This was her first experience in understanding what remote and isolated communities went through in their daily lives. She returned to Thunder Bay to attend Confederation College to enter the Developmental Service Worker program where, after graduation, she began a career working at a community agency supporting adults with developmental disabilities in both their homes and work settings. She entered the education field as a Student Support Professional with Lakehead Public Schools where she continued to work for almost forty years supporting students with different exceptionalities at both the elementary and secondary school levels. She was also involved with community partners and other related agencies while supporting students during co op and vocational placements. She was involved for 27 years as a union executive at both the local and provincial levels for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, that services members who work in educational settings from JK to post-secondary. Through working with members across Ontario, she has had the opportunity to be part of a team who developed, coordinated and presented professional development opportunities with workshops that included crisis awareness, homophobia, bullying and cyber bullying. Sue is running for School Board Trustee for the Lakehead District School Board.
Why did you decide to run for school board trustee?
The role of the trustee is vitally important as a community advocate for public education and needs experienced members who have the knowledge and understanding to ensure that they are promoting student achievement and well being. My experiences working as part of a team and having the ability to build effective relationships would be beneficial as part of the board of trustees.
I have dedicated my life to promoting public education and have seen many challenges that will affect the increasingly diverse needs of our students. With young grandchildren in the public system, I am motivated to continue to use the knowledge, skills and relationships that I have built to help support future decision making that will benefit students. We must have a board of trustees that are prepared to stand together to protect public education. We need to work together to be a strong voice to ensure an inclusive education for all students is in place in a safe environment with the necessary supports they require to have an equal chance to be successful at school. The present government has already made changes that affect student learning and I have concerns with those changes and how they will impact students. Student transportation, school amalgamation and closures along with funding shortfalls are also concerns that need to be addressed. I believe that we are all life long learners and my passion in promoting public education supports my decision to run for public school board trustee.
Other than the official ways of communicating (minutes, municipal notes), how else will you reach out to your constituents to involve them in the decision making process?
It is important for the education community to be able to have direct contact with trustees and to feel that they are part of the decision making process. I will make myself available through emails, phone calls and social media.
What is your favourite thing to do in your city?
My favourite thing to do in my city is to attend community events such as the Thunder Bay Market, the Bluesfest, Buskerfest and any community activities where we can spend time with our friends and family and meet new people along the way.
What do you cherish most about your community?
There are many things to cherish in our community that we sometimes overlook.
After retiring my husband and I returned to Thunder Bay to be closer to family after spending four years living in Toronto and travelling Ontario as part of my job. Returning to Thunder Bay has given us a greater appreciation for the slower pace of the north. Geographically, we live in one of the most beautiful places in Canada and we celebrate the uniqueness of our diverse population within our community. Sometimes you have to move away from a community to fully appreciate how great it really is.
Where can people find you?
People can find me by email.