About Us

Jonathan Scott is executive director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition.

Through various roles, he has always been a passionate, dedicated environmental advocate, focused on delivering practical solutions.

He was elected Town Councillor in Bradford West Gwillimbury in a December 2020 by-election and re-elected in October 2022 with over 79% of the vote.

A small business owner, Jonathan is Vice-President at Key Gordon Inc. He is a seasoned consultant in advocacy and business development, and previously served as director of communications for the Ontario government caucus and as a senior advisor to a former Premier.

Jonathan currently serves as Chair of Bradford’s Green Initiatives Advisory Committee, Co-Chair of CONTACT Community Services and Chair of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority. He also sits on the board of VIA Rail Inc, the Crown corporation that operates Canada’s national passenger rail service. He previously served as Vice-Chair of Conservation Ontario and as a member of the Ontario Greenbelt Council.

In his community, Jonathan is a passionate advocate for local support services. As Council’s liaison to the Helping Hand Food Bank and its fundraising chair, he helped raise over $1 million to support those in need. Jonathan previously served on the board of St John’s Presbyterian Church.

He was also a student trustee with the Simcoe County District School Board and Vice-President of the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association.

Jonathan regularly appeared on CTV News Channel, CBC News and SiriusXM Radio, and wrote for Monocle, Salon, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Municipal World, and other publications, including a popular monthly column in Bradford Today.

His community service has been recognized with the Town’s Outstanding Achievement Civic Award, the Bradford Legion’s Community Service Award and as an Emerging Leader by The Peak.

Jonathan is an honours graduate of Bradford District High School and the University of Toronto. He earned his law degree at Cardiff School of Law and Politics, an MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, and a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

Ms. Ucar is a retired Elementary School Principal, who has been spending seasonal time at Lake Simcoe all her life. Throughout her educational career, she focused on environmental education, wrote the Environmental Education curriculum for the Toronto District School Board and also for the David Suzuki Foundation in partnership with the Board. She has been a member of the RLSC Education Committee for two years and joined the Board in March 2020.

Gail Speirs-White lives in Barrie. Her professional work has been as a rural land-use planner which evolved into an environmental land use and policy planner. She enjoys kayaking and canoeing and continues to marvel at the abilities of farmers to grow our food.

MJ Hanley lives two minutes away from beautiful Lake Simcoe (LS) and respects her local environment. Her family moved to the area to swim and canoe in the lake and enjoy hikes in the surrounding forests. As a Senior Environmental Health & Safety Scientist with forty years of experience in the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional sectors, in indoor and ambient air, water and land pollution and remediation, she brings a wealth of experience to help protect and promote awareness for the lake, its tributaries and watersheds. She was the past Chair of the Air, Water and Waste Management Association (AWMA) – Ontario Section. She is a member of the Friends of the Maskinonge River (MR). She volunteers for the Town of Georgina to help with environmental issues like tree conservation and preservation, MR and LS water quality protection, road salt pollution and local land use and development environmental
protection. She also volunteered for RLSC for the past four years before joining the
Board and for the Canadian Cancer Society for over twenty years.

Claire has worked at the intersection of planning and the environment for most of her career. She is currently using her leadership and advocacy skills to reduce regulatory and cost barriers faced by Mid-rise developers. This follows decades of work as an environmental leader and champion for fresh water and Lake Simcoe. In her role as Executive Director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, Claire fought for efficient and environmental planning and development to reduce pollution and protect water quality. She was a10-year member and provincially appointed Chair of the Lake Simcoe Coordinating Committee, worked at Environmental Defence for six years as Water Programs Manager and Campaign Lake Simcoe Manager, and won important reforms for Municipal Election Financing in 2014, as the Manager of Campaign Fairness. Claire’s time in the trenches teaching concerned citizens how and what to advocate for has earned her multiple awards and much recognition from community groups.

Her master’s degree in planning is from York University, and her undergraduate degree in Anthropology is from the University of Victoria. Claire lives in Scarborough Southwest with her husband and young boys.

Claire.Malcolmson@gmail.com
647-267-7572

Meetkumar Patel is a Hydrometeorology Researcher and graduate student in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. He is a graduate of York University’s Environmental Management program with a concentration in GIS, Remote Sensing, and Geospatial Technology and holds an Associate Degree in Aerospace Engineering Technology. Kumar is passionate about using data and science to support evidence-based environmental decision-making. His work focuses on transforming complex environmental data into practical insights that guide conservation, watershed management, precision agriculture, and sustainable land-use planning. He is the founder of AgriOrbital Lab, an initiative dedicated to designing and developing open-access geospatial web applications for agriculture, forestry, and water-resource management. Kumar is interested in bridging the gap between scientific research and real-world policy and management. As a member of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition’s Board of Directors, he is committed to promoting science and data-informed decisions that protect freshwater ecosystems and strengthen the long-term resilience of the Lake Simcoe watershed.

Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora) is the former Member of Parliament for Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill. During her time in Parliament, she served on both the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development and the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. Prior to entering politics, she built a successful career in business.

Geoff McKnight is a retired municipal executive and former Chief Administrative Officer of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury. During a 35-year career serving several municipalities across Southern Ontario, he helped guide some of the region’s fastest-growing communities through significant growth, infrastructure investment, and environmental planning initiatives. A professional planner by background, Geoff is passionate about responsible growth, watershed protection, and community stewardship. He is proud to support the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition’s efforts to protect and restore the health of Lake Simcoe for future generations.

Elizabeth is passionate about building sustainable communities. With an HBA in Political Science and Urban Studies, she specializes in policy planning, community relations, and non-profit leadership. As Vice-Chair of Bradford’s Green Initiatives Advisory Committee, Elizabeth cares deeply about climate change mitigation and environmental protection, having organized many small-scale community green initiatives, such as A Greener Future’s Cigarette Butt Blitz. Previously a 2024 AMO Youth Fellow, Elizabeth held roles on environmental policy task forces where she advocated for stronger youth engagement across Ontario. She is excited to help safeguard Lake Simcoe so it can be enjoyed by generations to come.