About Susan

As a successful businesswoman, Susan has public fund management and extensive policy development experience, representing national industry organizations in senior leadership roles. She is an active volunteer in Mount Albert and across East Gwillimbury having served on numerous Boards and Committees. Locally, this includes:

  • Inaugural Chair of the East Gwillimbury’s Arts & Culture Advisory Committee

  • Board Member of the East Gwillimbury Public Library

  • Director on the Ontario Arts Council

  • Board Member of the Women’s Centre of York Region

  • Mount Albert Downtown Revitalization Committee

Susan is passionate about arts and culture. As a Board Director on the Ontario Arts Council, she decided upon approving$130M in provincial public awards and grants. As a monthly arts columnist for the EG Bulletin, she interviewed local artists from all media. Through her volunteer work serving with The Mount Albert Lions Club, she contributed to numerous projects and special fundraising events for the betterment of the community.

Currently, Councillor Lahey serves as Chair of the Engineering & Public Works department in the Town of East Gwillimbury; the Council liaison for the Accessibility Advisory Committee; the Arts & Culture Advisory Committee; and former liaison with the East Gwillimbury Chamber of Commerce.  Susan also takes great pleasure in volunteering at North Union Community Group events, as well as continuing to be a Friend of the East Gwillimbury Library.

For more than two decades, Susan has worked both locally and internationally as an award-winning professional art appraiser. She’s a highly sought-after expert in Asian art, published author and popular public speaker at conferences, and served as President of the Canadian Chapter of the International Society of Appraisers. A graduate of the Sotheby’s Education Program, with additional degrees from the University of Toronto and University of British Columbia, she has worked at the Royal Ontario Museum and consults for public institutions and private clients throughout North America and the world.

Having grown up in Newmarket, and lived and studied in Canada, Europe and Asia, Susan chose to make Mount Albert her home with her family. Bilingual and an avid reader of fiction and mystery novels, Susan plays the piano, tends to her garden, loves attending live theatre, and enjoys walking EG’s beautiful trails with her dog Henry.