Janice Laking, (née McCuaig; ) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired politician, who served as mayor of

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

from 1988 to 2000. The daughter of former

Simcoe North Simcoe North (french: Simcoe-Nord) is a federal electoral district in central Ontario, Canada. It was established as a federal riding in 1867. Demographics :''According to the Canada 2011 Census''; 2013 representation'' Ethnic groups: 87.8% ...

federal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Duncan Fletcher McCuaig Duncan Fletcher McCuaig (August 26, 1889 – August 17, 1950) was a Canadian politician who served in the House of Commons from 1935 to 1945, representing the electoral district of Simcoe North as a member of the Liberal Party. He had previ ...

, Laking was first elected to Barrie City Council in 1972. She was nominated in 1978 as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in

Simcoe South Simcoe South was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1925, and from 1979 to 1988. It was located north of Toronto in the province of Ontario. It was initially created by the British North Amer ...

in the 1979 federal election, but later withdrew to mount a campaign for mayor against incumbent

Ross Archer Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

. She lost that election, but was re-elected to a council seat in 1980 and served for another eight years before being elected mayor in 1988. In 1991, she won her second term in office by

acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

. She was the Liberal candidate for

Simcoe Centre Simcoe Centre was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Grey—Simcoe, Simcoe South and Wellington—Dufferi ...

in the 1993 federal election, losing by a margin of 123 votes to Reform Party candidate

Ed Harper Edward Harper (born April 9, 1931) is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Simcoe Centre in the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 until 1997. A member of the Reform Party, Harper was the only MP from th ...

. This was the only riding in the entire province not won by a Liberal in that election, and media generally credited Harper's victory to the fact that Laking was such a popular mayor that the voters didn't want her to leave the mayor's chair. She won reelection to the mayoralty in 1994 and 1997. She was defeated by Jim Perri in 2000, and subsequently served as a

citizenship judge The Citizenship Commission is an administrative tribunal within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The overall mandate of the Commission is to assess referred applications to ensure they meet the residence or physical-presence ...

. She is also an honorary colonel of

CFB Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, C ...

's 16 Wing unit."Laking left a legacy as mayor of Barrie"
''Barrie Advance'', October 19, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laking, Janice 1930s births Mayors of Barrie Candidates in the 1993 Canadian federal election Women mayors of places in Ontario Canadian citizenship judges Living people 20th-century Canadian women politicians Ontario candidates for Member of Parliament Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons