He was also an active freemason and shriner, and is a life member of the Monarchist League of Canada and the Royal Canadian Legion.
[5] Vankoughnet was elected to the provincial legislature two years later, defeating Liberal candidate Peter Walker and incumbent New Democrat Fred Wilson in the riding of Frontenac—Addington.
Vankoughnet's prospects for career advancement all but ended on May 1, 1996, when he was caught trying to buy sexual favours from an undercover police officer who was posing as a prostitute in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto.
Vankoughnet, his reputation still damaged by the prostitute incident, lost the Progressive Conservative nomination in Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington to Harry Danford in 1999.
[10] Vankoughnet sought a political comeback in 2004 by challenging Scott Reid for the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington.