{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Janice Laking | image = | image_size = | caption = | office = 42nd Mayor of Barrie | term_start = 1988 | term_end = 2000 | predecessor = Ross Archer | successor = Jim Perri | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|83|2013|9|26}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/4125122--great-canadian-laking-to-get-gallery-legacy-award/|title='Great Canadian' Laking to get gallery legacy award|access-date=2019-07-19|archive-date=2019-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719055848/https://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/4125122--great-canadian-laking-to-get-gallery-legacy-award/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | birth_place = }} '''Janice Laking''', (née '''McCuaig'''; {{circa|1930}}) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Barrie, Ontario from 1988 to 2000.
The daughter of former Simcoe North federal Member of Parliament Duncan Fletcher McCuaig, 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 in the 1979 federal election, but later withdrew to mount a campaign for mayor against incumbent Ross Archer.<ref>"Liberal quits federal race to fight mayor". ''The Globe and Mail'', October 7, 1978.</ref> 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.<ref>"Easy wins, surprise upsets recorded". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 15, 1988.</ref> In 1991, she won her second term in office by acclamation.<ref>"Election '94: It's a real horse race in many Ontario cities". ''Toronto Star'', October 15, 1994.</ref>
She was the Liberal candidate for Simcoe Centre in the 1993 federal election, losing by a margin of 182 votes to Reform Party candidate Ed Harper.<ref>"Ontario voters go true Grit". ''Toronto Star'', October 26, 1993.</ref> 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.<ref>"Lessons in right-wing reality from one Harper to another". ''The Globe and Mail'', September 16, 2008.</ref>
She won reelection to the mayoralty in 1994<ref>"Ontario voters re-elect familiar faces". ''Toronto Star'', November 15, 1994.</ref> and 1997.<ref>"Ontario Municipal Elections: Lastman makes megacity history; Incumbent mayors capture a majority". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 11, 1997.</ref>
She was defeated by Jim Perri in 2000,<ref>"Civic voters stay course". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 14, 2000.</ref> and subsequently served as a citizenship judge. She is also an honorary colonel of CFB Borden's 16 Wing unit.<ref>[http://www.barrieadvance.com/barrieadvance/article/50373 "Laking left a legacy as mayor of Barrie"]. ''Barrie Advance'', October 19, 2007.</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
{{Mayors of Barrie}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laking, Janice}} Category:1930s births Category:Mayors of Barrie Category:Candidates in the 1993 Canadian federal election Category:Women mayors of places in Ontario Category:Canadian citizenship judges Category:Living people Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians Category:Ontario candidates for Member of Parliament Category:Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Category:20th-century mayors of places in Ontario Category:Year of birth missing (living people)