In his maiden speech at the first meeting of the new council, Craig noted that he supported a formal collaboration process between the municipal councils of
Waterloo Region, but that he would not support the full amalgamation of Cambridge with
Kitchener and
Waterloo. In 2001, he supported the expansion of
GO Transit service in Cambridge as an alternative to a controversial new highway construction proposal that would have disrupted the city's Cruickston Park. Early in his term he scored a significant achievement for the city, successfully lobbying the
University of Waterloo to establish its new
School of Architecture campus in a vacant factory building in Cambridge. Around this time, Brewer and Fred Kent, the city's regional councillors, were facing some scrutiny for often voting differently at the Waterloo Region council level from the wishes of Cambridge's city council, but Craig earned himself a reputation as a "diplomat" for refusing to participate in the criticism of Brewer and Kent; instead, he took personal responsibility for a lack of communication between the city and regional councillors, caused by the provincial government's recent separation of the two roles. During his second term, he was noted particularly for his work on improving the city's transportation network, as well as the city council's decision to build a significant expansion onto city hall. Margaret Barr, Craig's main challenger in the 2006 municipal election, harshly criticized the new administration building as evidence that Craig was running city hall in a closed manner that was unresponsive to public opinion. Craig was successfully reelected, albeit by a significantly narrower margin than in 2003. In his third term in office he advocated for Cambridge to be included in Waterloo Region's
rapid transit plan, which had initially included only Kitchener and Waterloo, and supported a plan to replace many traffic lights on the city's Franklin Boulevard with
roundabouts. He was successfully reelected to a fourth term in 2010, and to a fifth term in 2014. In the 2018 election campaign, McGarry, formerly the city's
Member of Provincial Parliament, announced following her defeat in the
2018 provincial election that she would run for mayor. She alleged in her campaign that the people of the city were no longer satisfied with Craig's leadership style, and pledged to run city hall in a more communicative and consultative manner. On election day, McGarry defeated Craig for the seat, and Craig became the first mayor in the city's history to be defeated in a re-election bid. Craig returned to politics
in 2022 when he was elected to
Waterloo Regional Council. ==References==