Doug Reycraft

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Douglas Richard Reycraft (born March 9, 1943 in London, Ontario) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1985 to 1990.^[1]

Reycraft was educated at London Teachers' College and the University of Western Ontario, and worked as a teacher. He also served as councillor, deputy reeve and reeve in the Village of Glencoe, and served as a warden of Middlesex County.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1985 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Bob Eaton by 810 votes in the rural constituency of Middlesex. The Liberal Party formed government following this election. Re-elected by a greater margin in the 1987 election, Reycraft served as Chief Government Whip from September 29, 1987 to August 2, 1989.

The Liberals unexpectedly lost the 1990 provincial election to the New Democratic Party, and Reycraft lost his riding to NDP candidate Irene Mathyssen by 520 votes (out of 38,382 cast). He attempted a comeback in the 1995 election, but lost to Bruce Smith of the Progressive Conservatives.

Reycraft returned to municipal politics, and was elected mayor of Southwest Middlesex, Ontario in 2000. He was returned in 2003 by only 26 votes over challenger Tom Jeffrey, and won again in 2006.

Reycraft has also served as chair of the London-Middlesex Board of Health. In his capacity as mayor, he has devoted significant attention to water safety issues.

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