Russell Gregoire MacLellan (born January 16, 1940) 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 ...

politician who served as the 24th

premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of ...

from 1997 to 1999.

Early life

MacLellan was born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

Federal politics

He was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 1979 federal election for the riding of

Cape Breton—The Sydneys Cape Breton—The Sydneys was a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1997. This riding was created in 1966 from Cape Breton South. It consisted initially of part ...

and sat as a

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 ...

MP until 1997.

Provincial politics

In 1997, he became leader of the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Zach ...

and premier of the province after John Savage was forced to resign due to discontent within his party and sagging polls. MacLellan tried to revive the Liberal government's fortunes; he narrowly won a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

in the 1998 election, but his government was defeated in a confidence vote in 1999 and then defeated in the resulting 1999 election. On January 26, 2000, Maclellan announced he would step down as Liberal leader on June 30. He continued to sit as an MLA until resigning in October 2000.

After politics

Following his resignation, MacLellan returned to practising law, working for the Halifax-based law firm, Merrick Holm.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclellan, Russell 1940 births Canadian people of Scottish descent Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Nova Scotia political party leaders Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Premiers of Nova Scotia University of King's College alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians