Olds College is pleased to welcome three new public board members to the Board of Governors: Mabel Hamilton, Paul McLauchlin and Ted Menzies. The trio were recently appointed by the Government of Alberta Ministry of Advanced Education and bring to the board experience and expertise within the agriculture and food production industries.
Mabel Hamilton
Mabel Hamilton has over 30 years experience in the agriculture industry as an ag producer operating a progressive, family owned purebred Angus operation, Belvin Angus. She has dedicated her career to agriculture, and has a strong understanding of the industry and the political structure behind the industry. Ms. Hamilton has served on the Alberta Cattle Commission board and was the first female elected to the Canadian Cattlemen's Association. She has also served as Chairman of the Beef Information Centre, President of the Canadaian Angus Association and Chair of the Alberta Cattle Breeders Association.
Ms. Hamilton is a founding board member of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency where she played an instrumental role in helping gain producer support for the National Cattle Traceability system. In 2010, she was recognized as the Women of the Year in Agriculture by Alberta Beef Magazine, and in 2012 was inducted into the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Paul McLauchlin
Paul McLauchlin is a professional biologist and has been an environmental scientist and consultant for over 26 years. He is a fourth term county councillor and is currently the Reeve of Ponoka County, and a director at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta. Concurrently, into his fourteenth year, he is the facilitator for the Battle Lake Watershed Synergy Group which is a mechanism for resource developers (Oil and Gas) and communities to discuss issues, concerns, and mutually beneficial development goals.
Mr. McLauchlin works as a Field Biologist, an Environmental Scientist, in public consultation/communication and as a resource/conservation management specialist. His consulting business concentrates in the areas of project management, multi-stakeholder programs, predevelopment assessment (ecological, indigenous, and socio-economic) and public consultation for large and medium scale resource and energy projects.
Ted Menzies
Ted Menzies has had a lengthy career in primary production of grains, oilseeds and pulse crops, where he played an active role in developing and promoting policies supporting the agri-food sector and promoting international trade, through various appointments as well as elected positions in commodity organizations. These roles included President of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, Vice President of Grain Growers of Canada, President of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, to name a few.
Mr. Menzies was first elected in 2004, as the Member of Parliament for the Southern Alberta federal riding of Macleod. In 2006 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade as well as to the Minister for the Canadian International Development Agency and later Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance in 2007.
In January 2011 he was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council of Canada as Minister of State for Finance. Mr. Menzies retired from federal politics at the end of 2013, becoming President and CEO of CropLife Canada representing Canada’s plant science and biotech industry as well as a member of Crop Protection Strategy Council of CropLife International, until retiring in 2017.
