Ian Shugart

Ian Douglas Shugart (May 31, 1957 – October 25, 2023) was a Canadian politician, professor, and public servant who served as a senator from Ontario from September 2022 until his death in October 2023. Prior to his appointment to the Senate, Shugart held a number of senior roles within the Public Service of Canada, including as the 24th clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet from 2019 to 2021.

Education Shugart graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in political economy.

Career Political staffer Shugart began his career in Ottawa in 1980 as a political staffer, where he was a constitutional policy advisor to Progressive Conservative (PC) leader Joe Clark and later policy director under Brian Mulroney, when the PCs formed the Official Opposition. Mulroney formed government in 1984 and Shugart worked as a senior policy advisor to the minister of national health and welfare, Jake Epp. In 2010, he joined Employment and Social Development Canada as its deputy minister, where he worked on labour market and income security initiatives.

Senate Ian Shugart was appointed to the Senate on September 26, 2022, by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after a career in government spanning over 40 years. Health issues delayed his maiden speech in the upper chamber until June 2023. "Last week in this place, many honourable senators spoke about the risks to democracy in our country. Today, I would like to add what I hope might be a useful contribution to those observations," Shugart said. "I am going to speak about the idea of restraint — an idea, a discipline, that has proven essential in our constitutional and institutional development."

Retirement In 2022 Shugart retired and Janice Charette assumed the role of clerk.

Shugart joined the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in May 2022 as a part-time professor.

Death Ian Shugart died on October 25, 2023, at the age of 66. His death was announced in the Senate that same day.