John Carman McClelland (September 22, 1951 – June 1, 2022) was a Canadian politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He was an

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1987 to 1995 who represented the riding of

Brampton North Brampton North (french: Brampton-Nord) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It encompass portions of Ontario formerly included in the electoral districts of Brampton—Springdale, Bramalea—Gore—Malton and Brampton West. Br ...

. He was subsequently an unsuccessful Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2007 provincial election. In July 2018, he announced candidacy for Ward 1 & 5 Regional councillor from Brampton in the 2018 municipal election.

Background

McClelland was born in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and moved to Canada at a young age, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

and a law degree from the

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universit ...

. After graduation, he practiced law as an associate at the firm of Fogler, Rubinoff, Toronto. He was also a board member of the ''Canadian Council of Christian Charities''.

Politics

McClelland ran for the Ontario legislature in the general election of 1977, losing to

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

(NDP)

Ted Bounsall Edwin J. "Ted" Bounsall (born November 6, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a NDP member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1981. He represented the ridings of Windsor West from 1971 to 1975 and Windsor—S ...

by over 3,500 votes in

Windsor—Sandwich Windsor—Sandwich was an electoral riding in Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1934 and was abolished with the 1967 election as a result of redistribution. The area was restructured as Windsor West from 1967 to 1975, during which time it was r ...

. The next year, McClelland narrowly lost the race for a seat on the

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

Board of Education representing Ward 1. In 1980, he was appointed a board member for Ward 1 after the death of trustee Donald Hill, but was again narrowly defeated in the general election that November. He did not seek office again until the 1987 provincial election, when he was easily elected in

as part of a Liberal

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

. McClelland served as a backbench supporter of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgro ...

's government for the next three years. Prior to the 1990 election, McClelland was challenged for the Liberal nomination in his riding by the representative of a group which claimed the Peterson government had made insufficient outreach efforts to Ontario's

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

community. He won the nomination challenge, and went on to defeat NDP challenger John Devries by only 98 votes in the general election. The Liberals were upset by the NDP provincially, and McClelland moved to the opposition benches for the next five years. In 1993, he brought forward a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

dealing with the possibility of electoral recall. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the 1995 Ontario election, and McClelland lost to PC candidate

Joe Spina Joe Spina (born September 21, 1946) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, representing a Brampton-area riding for the Progressive Conservative Party. Background S ...

by 5,348 votes. In 2007, McClelland changed parties and was the PC candidate for the riding of

Brampton—Springdale Brampton—Springdale was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 until 2015, when it was abolished after the 2012 federal electoral redistribution. History It was crea ...

in the 2007 Ontario election, but lost to the Liberal candidate

Linda Jeffrey Linda Jeffrey (born ) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. From 2003 to 2014 she was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented the ridings of Brampton Centre and then Brampton—Springdale. She served as a cabin ...

by nearly 7,000 votes.

Return to legal practice

In 1995, he resumed his legal practice and was a member and VP of the Peel Law Association Executive Committee. He has also been President (2008–2009) of the Brampton Board of Trade. In May 2015, the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

suspended McClelland for mishandling the finances of several clients including some family members.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McClelland, Carman 1951 births 2022 deaths Ontario Liberal Party MPPs University of Windsor alumni York University alumni University of Windsor Faculty of Law alumni