Al McLean

For the MLB player, see Al McLean (baseball).
Al McLean
Ontario MPP
In office
1981–1999
Preceded by Gordon Smith
Succeeded by riding dissolved
Constituency Simcoe East
Personal details
Born March 20, 1937
Barrie, Ontario
Political party Progressive Conservative

Allan Kenneth McLean (born March 20, 1937) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and was briefly speaker of the assembly before being forced out of office due to a scandal.

Politics

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1981 provincial election, defeating NDP candidate Fayne Bullen by about 3,500 votes in the riding of Simcoe East.[1] He served as Deputy Whip of the PC party from 1983 to 1985, and was appointed a minister without portfolio and Chief Government Whip by Premier Frank Miller on February 8, 1985.[2]

McLean's time as a cabinet minister was brief. He was re-elected over Fayne Bullen in the 1985 provincial election, but the Progressive Conservative Party was reduced to a fragile minority government provincially.[3] He was re-appointed as a minister without portfolio responsible for [ Northern Affairs and Housing ] on May 17, 1985, but the Miller government was defeated in the legislature one month later and McLean moved with his party to the opposition benches.[4]

McLean was one of only seventeen PC members re-elected in the 1987 provincial election, defeating Liberal Butch Orser by fewer than 1,000 votes.[5] In the 1990 provincial election, he defeated NDP candidate Dennis Bailey by only 740 votes.[6]

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the 1995 election, and on this occasion McLean defeated his nearest opponent by more than 14,000 votes.[7] On September 26, 1995, he was chosen as speaker of the legislature.

In August 1996, McLean was accused of sexual harassment by an assistant to the Speaker. She complained that she had been harassed extensively since her appointment in March, six months previous. McLean denied the allegations but further investigations revealed that he had been subject to previous sexual harassment claims ten years prior to this event. In that case McLean settled out of court. The Globe and Mail said that public documents showed that McLean had paid $2,000 to the complainant. When the legislature resumed sitting in September, the opposition NDP introduced a motion demanding that McLean be replaced. The PCs refused to vote on the motion. McLean went on to say that he would sue any MPP that made the decade old reports public. After receiving legal advice that he could not sue, McLean decided to take a three month leave of absence for medical reasons. On September 26, 1996, McLean announced his resignation as Speaker of the House.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Canadian Press (1981-03-20). "Election results for Metro Toronto ridings". The Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario). p. 22. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  2. ↑ "The Ontario Cabinet". The Globe and Mail. February 9, 1985. p. 4.
  3. ↑ "Results of vote in Ontario election". The Globe and Mail. May 3, 1985. p. 13.
  4. ↑ "The new Cabinet". The Globe and Mail. May 18, 1985. p. 11.
  5. ↑ "Results from individual ridings". The Windsor Star. September 11, 1987. p. F2.
  6. ↑ "Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results". The Globe and Mail. September 7, 1990. p. A12.
  7. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  8. ↑ David Mutimer, ed. (2002). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 122–3.

External links