Al McLean

Allan Kenneth McLean (born March 20, 1937 in Barrie, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and was briefly speaker of the assembly before being forced out of office due to a scandal.

McLean did not attend university. He worked as a farmer before entering politics, and eventually became a millionaire in hog production.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1981 provincial election, defeating NDP candidate Fayne Bullen by about 3,500 votes in the riding of Simcoe East. He served as Deputy Whip of the PC party fromm 1983 to 1985, and was appointed a minister without portfolio and Chief Government Whip by Premier Frank Miller on February 8, 1985.

McLean's time as a cabinet minister was brief. He was re-elected over Bullen in the 1985 provincial election, but the Progressive Conservative Party was reduced to a fragile minority government provincially. He was re-appointed as a minister without portfolio responsible for Municipal Affairs and Housing on May 17, 1985, but the Miller government was defeated in the legislature one month later and McLean moved with his party to the opposition benches.

McLean was one of only seventeen PC members re-elected in the 1987 provincial election, defeating Liberal Butch Orser by fewer than 1,000 votes. In the 1990 provincial election, he defeated NDP candidate Dennis Bailey by only 740 votes.

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the 1995 election, and on this occasion McLean defeated his nearest opponent by more than 14,000 votes. On September 26, 1995, he was chosen as speaker of the legislature.

McLean was forced to resign as speaker on September 25, 1996, after he was accused of sexually harassing an employee. The specific accusations have never been published, but were understood to have been of a very serious nature. McLean had previously been involved in two other accusations of sexual harassment, one of which was resolved by a $2,000 payout.

A private report into the controversy supported the claims of McLean's accuser. McLean later attempted to use public monies to pay $150,000 in legal fees for himself and his accuser, but returned the money after his method of payment became public knowledge. He played only a minor role in the legislature after this controversy, and did not seek re-election in 1999.