Career
He was subsequently an unsuccessful Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2007 provincial election. McClelland moved to Canada at a young age, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree York University and a law degree from the University of Windsor. McClelland ran for the Ontario legislature in the general election of 1977, losing to New Democrat (NDP) Ted Bounsall by over 3,500 votes in Windsor—Sandwich.
The next year, McClelland narrowly lost the race for a seat on the Windsor Board of Education representing Ward 1.
In 1980, he was appointed as a board member for Ward 1 after the death of trustee Donald Hill, but was again narrowly defeated in the general election that November. He did not seek office again until the 1987 provincial election, when he was easily elected in Brampton North as part of a Liberal landslide victory.
McClelland served as a backbench supporter of David Peterson’s government for the next three years. The Liberals were upset by the NDP provincially, and McClelland moved to the opposition benches for the next five years.
In 1993, he brought forward a private member’s bill dealing with the possibility of electoral recall.
In 1995, he resumed his legal practice and is now a member and VP of the Peel Law Association Executive Committee. He has also been President (2008–2009) of the Brampton Board of Trade. In May 2015, the Law Society of Upper Canada suspended McClelland for mishandling the finances of several clients including some family members.