Ross McClellan
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Ross A. McClellan (born October 8, 1942) is a former politician in
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,
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. He served in the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...
from 1975 to 1987 as a member of the
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.


Background

McClellan was educated at St. Michael's College and the school of Social Work at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
. A social worker, he served as vice-president of the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto in 1975–76.


Politics

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. 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, and fended off more serious challenges from Liberal Walter Bardyn in
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and
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
. 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 A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
in the 1985 election. McClellan did not want the NDP to form a
coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
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 A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
in which the Liberals and NDP defeated the Conservative's budget bill, Liberal leader
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. Back ...
was sworn in as
Premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario () is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincia ...
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
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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. McClellan did not seek a return to the legislature after this loss.


Later life

The NDP won a
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...
under Bob Rae's leadership in 1990. McClellan served as a senior policy adviser to the Premier from 1990 to 1995. 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
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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. In September 2002, McClellan was appointed as Vice Chair at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Tribunal. 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.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, Ross 1942 births Living people Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario