GET INVOLVED
There are several ways to help build momentum for the campaign.
Ask hard questions.
Plan responsibly.
Keep residents informed.
Our community deserves a Council that plans intelligently for the future while remaining focused on the practical issues residents experience every day. That means asking hard questions, making evidence-based decisions, communicating proactively and ensuring Council provides meaningful oversight—not simply a rubber stamp.
DOUG'S PRIORITIES
01
Responsible Growth
Growth must be supported by realistic infrastructure planning, disciplined capital replacement and clear accountability for commitments made by developers and the municipality. Decisions made today must work financially and operationally for the long term.
02
Strong Communities
Families and residents need safe roads, accessible recreation, well-maintained public spaces and services that keep pace with growth. Council must stay connected to the practical issues people experience in their neighbourhoods and communities.
03
Rural Priorities
Agriculture is central to Ward 1’s economy and identity. Municipal decisions should respect productive farmland and farm operations while addressing roads, drainage, rural connectivity and meaningful consultation with those directly affected.
04
Transparent and Accountable Government
Residents deserve to understand what Council is deciding, why it is deciding it and how commitments will be delivered. That requires hard questions, evidence-based decisions, meaningful oversight and proactive communication.
MEET DOUG
Doug MacRae has called Ilderton home for six years, where he lives with his wife Michelle and their two children. He coaches youth baseball locally and has worked alongside his Clear Skies neighbours to advocate for transparency, follow-through and better communication from the municipality.
Community service has remained an important part of Doug’s life. He serves as a director with the Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital Foundation and previously spent seven years on the board of LEADS Employment Services, including serving as Chair. He has also served on advisory committees related to community safety and child care.
Doug’s professional career began in Houston, Texas, where he spent four years teaching at St. Thomas’ Episcopal School. After returning to London, he ran Scott’s Highland Services, a local small business, while owning a product line that represented a substantial part of the company. He later moved into healthcare fundraising with London Health Sciences Foundation before entering consulting and advisory work. Today, he helps organizations navigate major investments and complicated changes affecting thousands of employees. That varied experience, from teaching and small-business ownership to fundraising and large-scale advisory work, has taught him to listen, understand financial and operational realities, ask difficult questions and turn plans into practical results.
Doug holds an MBA focused on health administration and an Honours degree in Kinesiology from Western University.
Across his professional work, volunteer service and community advocacy, Doug has learned that good decisions require clear evidence, honest questions and communication people can understand. He is running to bring that approach to Council while remaining closely connected to the everyday priorities of Ward 1.
A LIFELONG PIPER
Doug’s bagpiping career began at the age of 8 and has been defined by elite competitive success and sustained leadership. As a professional-level soloist, he won the Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal (Canada), one of the country’s premier honours in classical Highland piping. He spent 26 years with the Grade 1 78th Fraser Highlanders, competing at the highest level of international pipe-band competition, including 13 years as Pipe Major (the band's leader). Under his leadership, the band won multiple North American Championship titles and competed annually at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Doug has also developed young musicians and continues to serve as a certified piping adjudicator.
GET INVOLVED
Campaigns are built one conversation and one neighbour at a time. If you can help with lawn-sign delivery, door knocking, phone calls, community outreach, events or social media, let me know below.