Michelle Bowman
for balanced representation on Guelph City Council

ABOUT
Michelle
Michelle has lived in the center of Ward 1 for twelve years - the longest she has lived anywhere. Her career was spent protecting the health of rivers and lakes. She became interested in politics because of the disconnect between evidence and government policies.
Michelle hopes to make city council work her main focus.



Political experience
As a scientist, I noticed the mismatch between government
policies and evidence. I started to pay closer
attention to politics when my colleagues in the federal government were let go
and our libraries dismantled. When I met
Mike Schreiner at a coffee chat, I volunteered on the spot. For almost five years, I’ve held various
positions in provincial and federal riding associations in Guelph. Last year I was a Federal MPP Candidate for Guelph and I continue to serve as an Environment Critic. I decided to run for city
council because I’d like to work on local issues and in a nonpartisan way.


Aquatic Ecology
The name of my home-based consulting business is Forensecology– think forensics but with polluters as the suspects and scientists as investigators. My proudest accomplishment is leading a
program to restore and maintain the health of rivers in our mountain national
parks. After leading the program for two
decades, it was incorporated into a broader national program a few years ago. The root causes of environmental and social
problems are the same. I feel I can make
a bigger impact as a politician than continuing as an environmental
scientist.
Background
I was born to young parents in Toronto and grew up in the
suburbs of Montreal and Toronto with my younger brother. I was fortunate to spend summers on the water
with my grandparents and cousins in cottage country. We visited family in the city often so I’m
equally happy in the city, burbs, countryside and forest. Water continued to be a theme in high school –
swim team, lifeguard, swim instructor, canoe trips and Special Olympics swim
coach. My dad was the first person in
his family to go to university and I was the first person in the family to go
to grad school.
