| Bob McClelland | |
| Birth Name: | Robert Howard McClelland |
| Birth Date: | 2 November 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Calgary, Alberta |
| Residence: | Kelowna, British Columbia |
| Constituency Am1: | Langley |
| Assembly1: | British Columbia Legislative |
| Term Start1: | August 30, 1972 |
| Term End1: | October 22, 1986 |
| Predecessor1: | Hunter Vogel |
| Successor1: | Carol Gran Dan Peterson |
| Party: | Social Credit |
| Occupation: | Broadcaster |
Robert Howard McClelland (born November 2, 1933) is a former broadcaster, journalist and political figure in British Columbia.[1] He represented Langley in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1972 to 1986 as a member of the Social Credit Party.
McClelland was born and educated in Calgary, Alberta. He moved to British Columbia as a driver for a furniture moving company. Later he worked as a broadcaster for radio station CHQM, as publisher of the Fraser Valley News Herald and as publisher of a monthly country and western music newspaper. He served as an alderman in Langley from 1969 to 1972.
In 1972, McClelland was elected to the Legislative Assembly of B.C. under the banner of the Social Credit Party. In 1973 he ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the party.[2] He later served under Premier Bill Bennett as Minister of Health, Minister of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources, Minister of Labour and Minister of Industry and Small Business Development.
McClelland earned the nickname "Broadway Bob" from his opponents after a controversy arose in 1982 about a taxpayer-paid visit in 1980 to New York City. The trip included tickets to a burlesque Broadway musical and costs for keeping a limousine on standby for ten hours at Plaza Hotel.[3]
On the night of Feb. 26, 1985, the day before he was transferred from the Ministry of Labour to the Ministry of Industry and Small Business, McClelland phoned and paid $130 as a customer[4] to Top Hat Productions, a Victoria escort service that was under surveillance by police.[5] On Nov. 27, 1987, McClelland was called by the defence to testify in the criminal trial of Top Hat's operator, Arlie Blakely, who faced 19 counts of offences related to prostitution. McClelland testified that he had drunk too much alcohol that night to retain memory of everything that happened.[6] The matter became known as the "Top Hat Affair". McClelland retained his cabinet position until July 1986, when Bill Vander Zalm became the leader of the Social Credit Party and the Premier of B.C. He did not seek re-election.