Ross A. McClellan | |
---|---|
Ontario MPP | |
In office 1975–1987 | |
Preceded by | John Yaremko |
Succeeded by | Riding abolished |
Constituency | Bellwoods |
Personal details | |
Born | Toronto,Ontario | October 8,1942
Political party | New Democrat |
Occupation | Social worker |
Ross A. McClellan (born October 8,1942) is a former politician in Ontario,Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1987 as a member of the New Democratic Party.
McClellan was educated at St. Michael's College and the school of Social Work at the University of Toronto. A social worker,he served as vice-president of the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto in 1975–76.
He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election,defeating Liberal Millie Caccia by 496 votes in the Toronto constituency of Bellwoods. [1] Along with Tony Lupusella and Odoardo Di Santo,McClellan helped to increase the NDP's popularity in the Italian areas of the city. McClellan's mother is Italian.
He was easily re-elected in the 1977 election, [2] and fended off more serious challenges from Liberal Walter Bardyn in 1981 and 1985. [3] [4] He supported Richard Johnston for the party leadership in 1982.
The Progressive Conservative Party,which had governed Ontario since 1943,was reduced to a precarious minority government in the 1985 election. McClellan did not want the NDP to form a coalition government with the Liberals,on the grounds that the Party would be totally opposed. McClellan was instead appointed chief negotiator for talks with both the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives,in which the NDP agreed to provide support to another party without actually joining government. These talks led to a two-year accord with the Liberal Party,which promised to introduce progressive reforms in return for NDP support in the legislature. After a motion of no confidence in which the Liberals and NDP defeated the Conservative's budget bill,Liberal leader David Peterson was sworn in as Premier of Ontario on June 26,1985.
McClellan's career in the legislature was cut short by electoral redistribution prior to the 1987 election. The Bellwoods constituency was eliminated,and McClellan was forced to contest the NDP nomination in Dovercourt against Tony Lupusella. Although McClellan won the nomination,Lupusella subsequently left the NDP to contest the constituency as a Liberal,and defeated McClellan by 907 votes. [5] McClellan did not seek a return to the legislature after this loss.
The NDP won a majority government under Bob Rae's leadership in 1990. McClellan served as a senior policy adviser to the Premier from 1990 to 1995. [6] McClellan was privileged to attend and participate in all meetings of the Rae Cabinet,and was co-secretary of the Cabinet Planning and Priorities Committee. He influenced many key policy decisions,including the decision to raise welfare rates by 22% and to protect the rates from cuts,to maintain and expand Ontario's stand-alone social housing program,as well as the government's decision not to introduce public auto insurance in 1991.
McClellan has been a member of the Ontario and Federal NDP executive at various times since the Rae years and is largely credited with authoring the NDP election platforms in the Federal general elections of 1997 and 2000. He became a senior staffer for the Ontario Federation of Labour in the 1990s,and remained there until his retirement. McClellan consistently spoke out against limiting union donations to political parties. He continued to participate in NDP caucus meetings as the OFL liaison to caucus.
In 2002,on his last day at the OFL,he played a leading role in resolving a strike involving Toronto municipal workers. [7] In September 2002,McClellan was appointed as Vice Chair at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Tribunal. [8]
He retired from the Tribunal in 2013. He and his wife Patricia live in a little cottage on the banks of the Credit River in Caledon. At age sixty-four he decided to learn to play the fiddle and is a long-time member of the Oakville Celtic Fiddle Orchestra.
The Ontario New Democratic Party is a social democratic political party in Ontario,Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following the 2018 general election. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party.
Frank Stuart Miller was a Canadian politician who served as the 19th premier of Ontario for four months in 1985. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1971 as a Progressive Conservative member of the central Ontario riding of Muskoka. He served in the cabinet of Premier Bill Davis in several portfolios including Minister of Health and Minister of Natural Resources. He also served five years as the Treasurer of Ontario.
The 1990 Ontario general election was held on September 6,1990,to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario,Canada. The governing Ontario Liberal Party led by Premier David Peterson was unexpectedly defeated. Although the Peterson government,and Peterson himself,were very popular,he was accused of opportunism in calling an election just three years into his mandate. In a shocking upset,the New Democratic Party (NDP),led by Bob Rae,won a majority government. This marked the first time the NDP had won government east of Manitoba,and to date the only time the NDP formed the government in Ontario.
Michael James Breaugh was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1990,and in the House of Commons of Canada from a 1990 by-election until 1993.
Richard Frank Johnston is a retired Canadian provincial politician,educator and administrator.
James Francis Foulds is a former politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a New Democratic member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1987.
Edward Thomas Philip was a Canadian politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a New Democratic Party (NDP) member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1995 who represented the west Toronto riding of Etobicoke. From 1990 to 1995,he was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.
Robert Warren (Bob) Mackenzie was a politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1995,and a prominent cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.
Brian Albert Charlton is a former politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1995 who represented the riding of Hamilton Mountain. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae. He serves on the board of directors of a sustainable living non-profit called Green Venture.
Elaine Ziemba is a former Canadian politician in Ontario,Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995,and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.
Evelyn Adelaide Gigantes is a former politician in Ontario,Canada. She served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on three occasions between 1975 and 1995 and was a prominent cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.
David William Warner is a former politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on three occasions between 1975 and 1995,and served as Speaker of the Assembly during Bob Rae's administration.
Antonio (Tony) Lupusella is a former politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1990. Originally a New Democrat,he later crossed the floor to the Liberal Party.
Kenneth A. Keyes is a former politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1990,and served as a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.
Melvin Leroy Swart was a Canadian politician in Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democratic MPP from 1975 to 1988.
John Melville Turner was a Canadian politician in the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1975,and again from 1977 to 1987,as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. He was the Speaker of the Ontario Legislature from 1981 to 1985.
John Edward (Jack) Stokes was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1985,and was Speaker of the legislature from 1977 to 1981. Stokes was a member of the New Democratic Party.
Odoardo Di Santo is a politician and administrator in Ontario,Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985,as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Joseph Earl McEwen was a politician in Ontario,Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985.
Edward Michael Havrot was a politician in Ontario,Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1985 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Timiskaming.