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Jack MacLaren (born ) is a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
former politician who represented the eastern Ontario riding of
Carleton—Mississippi Mills Carleton—Mississippi Mills (formerly known as Lanark—Carleton and Carleton—Lanark) was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. This riding was created in 19 ...
in 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 2011 to 2018. Originally elected as a member of the
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...
, he was removed from the party's legislative caucus in 2017 by party leader Patrick Brown after a video recording surfaced of him suggesting that the party would repeal
Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of On ...
language rights in the province. MacLaren announced later that day that he had joined the
Trillium Party of Ontario The Trillium Party of Ontario (french: Parti Trillium de l’Ontario) was a right-wing populist, social conservative political party in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 2014, the party was led by Bob Yaciuk for the duration of its exi ...
, becoming that party's first MPP.


Background

MacLaren was born in
Woodlawn, Ontario Torbolton is a geographic township and former municipality that was originally part of Carleton County in eastern Ontario, Canada. Torbolton is located in the north-western part of the county, bordered to the southwest by Fitzroy Township, to the ...
in 1951. He is a past president of the
Ontario Landowners Association The Ontario Landowners Association is an organization which seeks to protect property rights in Ontario, Canada. The OLA was formed "...to preserve and protect the rights of property owners." The organization seeks to cause laws and regulations, w ...
and graduated with a BSc in civil engineering from Queen's University in 1972.


Politics

In 2011, MacLaren contested the party's nomination in the riding of
Carleton—Mississippi Mills Carleton—Mississippi Mills (formerly known as Lanark—Carleton and Carleton—Lanark) was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. This riding was created in 19 ...
competing against the sitting MPP
Norm Sterling Norman William "Norm" Sterling (born February 19, 1942) is a Canadian politician, who served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 2011. Background Sterling attended Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, and worked as a ...
, who had represented the riding and its predecessors in Queen's Park for 34 years. MacLaren won the nomination with the help of one of Sterling's fellow MPPs,
Randy Hillier Randy Alexander Hillier (born 1958) is a Canadian politician who served as a Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada), member of provincial parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007-2022. Hillier represented the riding ...
. Hillier, who was also a past president of the Ontario Landowners Association, campaigned on behalf of MacLaren. In the 2011 provincial election, MacLaren defeated
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 ...
candidate Megan Cornell by about 9,102 votes. In the 40th Parliament of Ontario, MacLaren served as his party's deputy critic for infrastructure and transportation from October 26, 2011 to September 30, 2013, when he was promoted to be his party's critic for Senate and Democratic reform. He was re-elected in the June 2014 provincial election defeating Liberal candidate Rosalyn Stevens by 10,029 votes. On July 4, 2014, it was announced that MacLaren would continue be the party's critic for Senate and Democratic Reform. In November 2014, MacLaren introduced 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 ...
to repeal the law that grants environmental protections for the
Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States that runs predominantly east–west from New York through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and into Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over ...
for the second time. The bill was named for a late friend of MacLaren's named Bob Mackie who was fighting to prevent the closure of an illegal archery range on his property on the escarpment. MacLaren said that his bill would begin to reverse "the tide of creeping socialism that has been slowly taking away our property rights for decades" and that it would restore the values of "our British Christian cultural heritage of freedom, democracy, common-law and private property rights that date back to the Magna Carta of 1215." Most PC MPPs either stayed away from the chamber during the vote, which was 40–1 defeat of the bill, but some whose ridings included parts of the escarpment, such as
Sylvia Jones Sylvia Jones (born ) is a Canadian politician who has served as the deputy premier of Ontario and Ontario minister of health since June 24, 2022. Jones sits as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Dufferin—Caledon, representing th ...
,
Ted Arnott Theodore Calvin Arnott (born April 8, 1963) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on September 6, 1990, representing the Riding of Wellington. He is a member of the Progressive Conservativ ...
, and former leader Tim Hudak, stayed to vote against it. MacLaren was the second MPP to back former federal Conservative Patrick Brown's successful bid for leadership in the 2015 Progressive Conservative leadership election, bringing with him the supporter of the small but dedicated Ontario Landowners Association In June 2015, MacLaren was accused of betraying social conservative values by Nick Vandergragt, a conservative radio talk show host on Ottawa's
CFRA CFRA is a news/talk formatted radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. The station broadcasts on the assigned frequency of 580 kHz. CFRA's studios are located in the Bell Media Building on George Street in Downtown Ottawa ...
for marching in that year's
Toronto Pride Pride Toronto is an annual event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in June each year. A celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community in the Greater Toronto Area, it is one of the largest organized gay pride festivals in the world, fea ...
parade alongside PC leader Patrick Brown and other conservatives, both federal and provincial. MacLaren was named his party's Critic for Natural Resources and Forestry on September 10, 2015, as well as the Vice-Chair of the relevant committee. Brown also made MacLaren, a
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
, the chairman of the PC's
Blue Ribbon Panel In the United States, a blue-ribbon committee (or panel or commission) is a group of exceptional people appointed to investigate, study or analyze a given question. Blue-ribbon committees generally have a degree of independence from political infl ...
on Property Rights. Also in Fall 2015, Brown chose MacLaren to replace fellow Ottawa PC MPP
Lisa MacLeod Lisa Anne MacLeod (born 1974) is a Canadian politician who has represented Nepean in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Elected in 2018, MacLeod is a member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party. She previously served as the Ontario m ...
as the party's critic for Eastern Ontario. On November 26, 2015, MacLaren officially invited a "group of friends and guests" from the Tamil community to hear him make a speech in Queen's Park about the "genocidal onslaught for the Tamils" in Sri Lanka. A week after the speech, the ''
National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'' reported that the delegation selected by the Tamil community had included M. K. Eelaventhan, a Tamil politician that the
Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and cu ...
is trying to deport from Canada for his previous connections to the
Tamil Tigers The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
, which is recognized by Canada as a terrorist organization. The ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' reported on March 3, 2016 that MacLaren had been making inquiries on behalf of challengers to MacLeod in her
Nepean—Carleton Nepean—Carleton was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons from 1979 to 1988, and again from 1997 to 2015. It included the southern ...
riding. MacLaren refused to comment and the Progressive Conservatives dismissed the claims in the story. At the Ottawa party convention which was ongoing when the story broke, Brown publicly endorsed MacLeod's renomination as candidate.


Leave, demotion, and sensitivity training

MacLaren was forced to apologize on April 6, 2016 after calling his federal Liberal counterpart
Karen McCrimmon Karen A. McCrimmon (born 1959) is a Canadian Forces veteran, mediator, and politician who was elected Member of Parliament for Kanata—Carleton in the 2015 Canadian federal election. After a 31-year military career, McCrimmon retired as a lie ...
to the stage at a cancer fundraising dinner the previous month in
Carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
, and then telling a vulgar joke about her and her husband's sexual relationship. MacLaren emailed an apology to McCrimmon after the story was first reported by the ''Toronto Star''. The incident prompted criticism from across party lines, as fellow Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod and federal Conservative MP
Michelle Rempel Michelle Rempel Garner (''née'' Godin; born February 14, 1980) is a Canadian politician who sits in the House of Commons as the member of Parliament (MP) for the Alberta riding of Calgary Nose Hill. A member of the Conservative Party, she was i ...
both tweeted in support of McCrimmon. Patrick Brown said that the party had "zero tolerance for misogynistic comments and an apology was made correctly to Karen McCrimmon this morning." On April 12, 2016, the ''
Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
'' reported that MacLaren's website included a testimonials section praising his work where most of the constituents were fictional and were represented by photos that had been taken without permission from the internet. One of the testimonials was from a "Robert & Karen" from
Constance Bay Constance Bay is a population centre in West Carleton-March Ward in the rural northwest of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Prior to amalgamation in 2001, the community was part of West Carleton Township. It is situated 25 km northwest o ...
, which coincidentally is where MacLaren's federal counterpart, Liberal MP Karen McCrimmon lives with her husband Robert. MacLaren's website initially added a disclaimer claiming that the names and depictions of constituents had been changed to protect their privacy before removing the page entirely. MacLaren then issued an apology for the improper use of constituent testimonials and had his website taken offline. The next day, Patrick Brown decided to demote MacLaren after the events of the past few weeks by replacing him as the party's Eastern Ontario representative in caucus with
Jim McDonell James A. McDonell (born ) is a Canadian politician. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented the riding of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry. He has been an MPP from 2011 until his ret ...
. MacLaren kept his position as the shadow cabinet critic for natural resources, the chair of a party panel on property rights, and as an ambassador to ethnic communities. On April 14, the
Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
reported that MacLaren had been heard making vulgar jokes about Premier
Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the ...
. Both Wynne and
Ontario NDP The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...
leader
Andrea Horwath Andrea Horwath (; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian politician who has been the 58th mayor of Hamilton since 2022. Horwath previously served as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton Centre from 2004 to 2022, as leader of t ...
subsequently called on MacLaren to be kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus, and Wynne called for Queen's Park to create a code of conduct for MPPs. Brown ordered MacLaren to go on indefinite leave from legislature to focus on constituency work and to undergo sensitivity training. Brown also stated that MacLaren's caucus responsibilities would be reassigned. On May 31, 2016, MacLaren returned to Queen's Park after completing his sensitivity training.


Expulsion from PCs, first Trillium Party MPP

On May 28, 2017, Brown expelled MacLaren from the PC caucus, purportedly after a video recording surfaced of a 2012 speech in which he criticized French language rights in the province, and indicated that the party would act to limit them once in office. Brown also stated that MacLaren would not be allowed to run as a Tory in the next election. After his expulsion was announced, he released a statement on Twitter saying he had joined the
Trillium Party of Ontario The Trillium Party of Ontario (french: Parti Trillium de l’Ontario) was a right-wing populist, social conservative political party in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 2014, the party was led by Bob Yaciuk for the duration of its exi ...
. MacLaren stated in an interview with the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' that he had already planned the week before to announce his move to the Trillium Party at a 3:30pm news conference on May 29, but Brown learned of his plans and expelled him first. Brown said that while there had been rumours of MacLaren leaving to potentially form his own party, Brown personally was unaware of MacLaren's plan to join the Trillium Party until after he found out about the video and expelled him. In an interview with
Evan Solomon Evan Solomon (born April 20, 1968) is a Canadian columnist, political journalist, radio host, and publisher. Until 2022, he was the host of ''The Evan Solomon Show'' on Toronto-area talk radio station CFRB, a writer for ''Maclean's'' magazine, an ...
on
CFRA CFRA is a news/talk formatted radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. The station broadcasts on the assigned frequency of 580 kHz. CFRA's studios are located in the Bell Media Building on George Street in Downtown Ottawa ...
after his expulsion, MacLaren said that he had grown unhappy with the direction that Brown was taking the party and hadn't spoken to him in a year. MacLaren said that he felt he could serve his constituents better with the Trillium Party, and that the Progressive Conservatives had no values and its establishment was anti-democratic. He also characterized Solomon's questions on the reasoning for his dismissal as "talking about something that isn't helping anybody" and a valueless waste of time. Since the Trillium Party lacked
official party status Official party status refers to the Westminster practice which is officially used in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures of recognizing parliamentary caucuses of political parties. In official documents, this is sometimes re ...
in 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 ...
, MacLaren was officially counted as an independent. In the 2018 election he lost his bid for re-election in the new riding of Kanata—Carleton, essentially the Ottawa portion of his old riding. He finished fifth out of seven candidates after losing well over half of his vote from 2014.


Electoral record


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaren, Jack 1951 births 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian civil engineers Canadian farmers Living people Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Queen's University at Kingston alumni Trillium Party of Ontario MPPs Politicians affected by a party expulsion process