Lyn McLeod
Encyclopedia
Lyn McLeod is a politician
in Ontario
, Canada
. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal
government of David Peterson
from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1992 to 1996.
degree from the University of Manitoba
and a Master of Arts
degree in Psychology from Lakehead University
, in the Northern Ontario
city of Thunder Bay
. She was trustee
on the Lakehead Board of Education for seventeen years and its chair for seven. McLeod was also appointed to the Board of Governors of Lakehead University in 1986.
She is married to Dr. Neil McLeod, a family physician and former President of the Ontario Medical Association
. They live in Thunder Bay.
of Fort William
in the provincial election of 1987
, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative
Michael Hennessy
by 1,463 votes. The Liberals won a landslide majority in this election and made several historical breakthroughs in Northern Ontario. McLeod was appointed Minister of Colleges and Universities on September 29, 1987. Following a cabinet shuffle on August 2, 1989, she was named Minister of Energy and Minister of Natural Resources.
The Liberals were upset by the New Democratic Party
in the provincial election of 1990
, although McLeod was able to retain her riding against a strong challenge from NDP candidate Dan Hutsul, winning by 1,345 votes. Unlike most other Liberal candidates in this election, McLeod was supported by prominent members from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation
in her region.
. She finished a strong second on the first ballot, and overtook Elston on the third with support from Steve Mahoney
's delegates. McLeod finally defeated Elston by nine votes on the fifth ballot, becoming the first woman to lead a major party in Ontario.
McLeod's victory was attributed to two factors. She made a deal with second-tier leadership contender Charles Beer
. The Elston camp had an unexpectedly large lead on the first ballot, as McLeod lent Beer some of her delegates to give him a respectable showing, and Elston's margin dropped significantly when the eliminated Beer threw his full support behind McLeod.
's NDP government being widely blamed for mishandling the major recession, McLeod's Liberals held a steady lead in the polls for most of the period from 1992 to 1995, and were generally expected to win the 1995 campaign
. The party, however, damaged its credibility through a series of high-profile policy reversals in the period leading up to the election.
The most notable of these occurred when McLeod withdrew Liberal support for Bill 167, a same-sex benefits package introduced by the NDP government of Bob Rae
in 1994. As twelve NDP MPPs (including two junior ministers) voted against it as well, the legislation was defeated. Many regarded McLeod's decision as cynical and opportunistic, and some believe that it was intended to boost Liberal fortunes in rural areas following a by-election
loss in the rural, socially conservative
riding of Victoria—Haliburton
. The result, however, was that the party earned a reputation for "flip-flopping" and inconsistency, while offending its socially progressive supporters.
McLeod also offended some immigrant voters, who usually vote Liberal, by criticizing the Rae government's handling of Somali refugee claims. Her intent was to draw attention to criminal gangs that were forcing Somalis to move to Ontario and defraud the provincial welfare system. Several, however, interpreted her criticisms as being directed toward the entire community.
During the campaign itself, McLeod further alienated many voters with an overly aggressive performance in the party leaders' debate, clashing with Premier Bob Rae
and waving her party's platform before the cameras on several occasions. Prior to this performance, provincial Liberal support was regarded by many political insiders as soft and unsteady. After the debate, many voters who were previously leaning to the Liberals shifted to Mike Harris
's Progressive Conservatives, who were in third place in the legislature. The Tories surpassed the Liberals to grab the swing in support away from the NDP and finished with a majority, while the Liberals finished with less support than the previous campaign and managed only 30 out of 130 seats.
McLeod herself was easily re-elected in Fort William, defeating Thunder Bay municipal councillor and Tory candidate Evelyn Dodds (see Shelley Martel
) by over 8,000 votes. Some Liberals called on McLeod to step down after the election, and she announced her resignation as party leader two months later.
, serving as education critic from 1996 to 1999. She was generally regarded as more successful in this role, and proved an able opponent of Education Minister John Snobelen
's restructuring policies.
, in the redistributed riding of Thunder Bay—Atikokan
. The Tories won the election with a reduced majority, and McLeod swapped shadow cabinet portfolios with Gerard Kennedy
to serve as her party's health critic in the legislature that followed. She did not seek re-election in 2003.
. She also was named as the first chancellor of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology
in June 2004, and is a vice-chair of the board of governors at Confederation College
in Thunder Bay.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
government of David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1992 to 1996.
Background - Pre political career
McLeod holds a Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
and a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree in Psychology from Lakehead University
Lakehead University
Lakehead University is a public research university in Thunder Bay, and Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', or 'LU', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate and graduate programs and a medical school.The school has more than 45,000...
, in the Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
city of Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
. She was trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
on the Lakehead Board of Education for seventeen years and its chair for seven. McLeod was also appointed to the Board of Governors of Lakehead University in 1986.
She is married to Dr. Neil McLeod, a family physician and former President of the Ontario Medical Association
Ontario Medical Association
The Ontario Medical Association is a professional organization for physicians in Ontario, Canada founded in 1880. It represents and, to a certain degree, governs approximately 24,000 physicians in Ontario. The association's main office is located at 150 Bloor St. West in Toronto. The current...
. They live in Thunder Bay.
First term (1987-1990)
She was elected for the ridingElectoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Fort William
Fort William (electoral district)
Fort William was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario...
in the provincial election of 1987
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
Michael Hennessy
Michael Hennessy
Michael Joseph Hennessy was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as an independent Teachta Dála for Cork East and North East at the 1922 general election. He was elected as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD for Cork East at the 1923, June 1927 and September 1927 general elections. He...
by 1,463 votes. The Liberals won a landslide majority in this election and made several historical breakthroughs in Northern Ontario. McLeod was appointed Minister of Colleges and Universities on September 29, 1987. Following a cabinet shuffle on August 2, 1989, she was named Minister of Energy and Minister of Natural Resources.
The Liberals were upset by the New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
in the provincial election of 1990
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
, although McLeod was able to retain her riding against a strong challenge from NDP candidate Dan Hutsul, winning by 1,345 votes. Unlike most other Liberal candidates in this election, McLeod was supported by prominent members from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation
Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation is a trade union which represents 60,000 members across Ontario, Canada.Founded in 1919, its membership includes public high school teachers, occasional teachers, teaching assistants, psychoeducational consultants, social workers, child and youth...
in her region.
Second term & Ontario Liberal Party Leadership (1990-1995)
Peterson personally lost his seat in the 1990 campaign, and the Liberal party went through a series of interim leaders before holding a convention in early 1992. McLeod was one of six candidates for the position, and was widely regarded as the main challenger to frontrunner Murray ElstonMurray Elston
Murray John Elston is an executive and former Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1994, and was a prominent cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson...
. She finished a strong second on the first ballot, and overtook Elston on the third with support from Steve Mahoney
Steve Mahoney
Steven W. Mahoney, PC is a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1995, and a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1997 to 2004. In the latter capacity, he served as a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien...
's delegates. McLeod finally defeated Elston by nine votes on the fifth ballot, becoming the first woman to lead a major party in Ontario.
McLeod's victory was attributed to two factors. She made a deal with second-tier leadership contender Charles Beer
Charles Beer
John Charles McWaters Beer is a former Canadian politician...
. The Elston camp had an unexpectedly large lead on the first ballot, as McLeod lent Beer some of her delegates to give him a respectable showing, and Elston's margin dropped significantly when the eliminated Beer threw his full support behind McLeod.
1995 provincial election campaign
With Bob RaeBob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
's NDP government being widely blamed for mishandling the major recession, McLeod's Liberals held a steady lead in the polls for most of the period from 1992 to 1995, and were generally expected to win the 1995 campaign
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
. The party, however, damaged its credibility through a series of high-profile policy reversals in the period leading up to the election.
The most notable of these occurred when McLeod withdrew Liberal support for Bill 167, a same-sex benefits package introduced by the NDP government of Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
in 1994. As twelve NDP MPPs (including two junior ministers) voted against it as well, the legislation was defeated. Many regarded McLeod's decision as cynical and opportunistic, and some believe that it was intended to boost Liberal fortunes in rural areas following a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
loss in the rural, socially conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
riding of Victoria—Haliburton
Victoria—Haliburton (provincial electoral district)
Victoria—Haliburton was a provincial electoral district in central Ontario, Canada which elected members to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It was created in 1967 and abolished in 1999 into Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock and Parry Sound—Muskoka....
. The result, however, was that the party earned a reputation for "flip-flopping" and inconsistency, while offending its socially progressive supporters.
McLeod also offended some immigrant voters, who usually vote Liberal, by criticizing the Rae government's handling of Somali refugee claims. Her intent was to draw attention to criminal gangs that were forcing Somalis to move to Ontario and defraud the provincial welfare system. Several, however, interpreted her criticisms as being directed toward the entire community.
During the campaign itself, McLeod further alienated many voters with an overly aggressive performance in the party leaders' debate, clashing with Premier Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
and waving her party's platform before the cameras on several occasions. Prior to this performance, provincial Liberal support was regarded by many political insiders as soft and unsteady. After the debate, many voters who were previously leaning to the Liberals shifted to Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
's Progressive Conservatives, who were in third place in the legislature. The Tories surpassed the Liberals to grab the swing in support away from the NDP and finished with a majority, while the Liberals finished with less support than the previous campaign and managed only 30 out of 130 seats.
McLeod herself was easily re-elected in Fort William, defeating Thunder Bay municipal councillor and Tory candidate Evelyn Dodds (see Shelley Martel
Shelley Martel
Shelley Dawn Marie Martel is a Canadian politician. A former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, she represented the riding of Sudbury East from 1987 to 1999, and Nickel Belt from 1999 until 2007, as a New Democrat....
) by over 8,000 votes. Some Liberals called on McLeod to step down after the election, and she announced her resignation as party leader two months later.
Third term (1995-1999)
McLeod remained a prominent Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) under new leader Dalton McGuintyDalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
, serving as education critic from 1996 to 1999. She was generally regarded as more successful in this role, and proved an able opponent of Education Minister John Snobelen
John Snobelen
John Snobelen is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris....
's restructuring policies.
Fourth term (1999-2003)
McLeod was re-elected by a landslide in the provincial election of 1999Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, in the redistributed riding of Thunder Bay—Atikokan
Thunder Bay—Atikokan
For the current provincial electoral district, see Thunder Bay—Atikokan Thunder Bay—Atikokan was a federal electoral district in northwestern Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2003 and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2007...
. The Tories won the election with a reduced majority, and McLeod swapped shadow cabinet portfolios with Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
to serve as her party's health critic in the legislature that followed. She did not seek re-election in 2003.
Post-political career
Following her retirement, McLeod was appointed to the newly-founded Health Council of CanadaHealth Council of Canada
The Health Council of Canada is a national, independent, nonprofit organization funded by Health Canada and mandated to monitor and report on the progress of health care renewal in Canada.- History :...
. She also was named as the first chancellor of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology is located in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The university shares its campus with Durham College. The university was founded in 2002 and accepted its first students in 2003, making it one of Canada's newest universities...
in June 2004, and is a vice-chair of the board of governors at Confederation College
Confederation College
Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has area campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Geraldton, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake and Wawa. The college, with its area...
in Thunder Bay.