Ryan Cleary

Ronald E. "Ryan" Cleary (born November 20, 1966) is a Canadian politician and journalist from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. He was the Member of Parliament for St. John's South—Mount Pearl from 2011 to 2015.

Ryan Cleary
Member of the Canadian Parliament for St. John's South—Mount Pearl
In office May 2, 2011 – August 4, 2015
Preceded by	Siobhán Coady
Succeeded by	Seamus O'Regan
Personal details
Born	November 20, 1966 Gander, Newfoundland
Political party	New Democratic Party (2008-2015) Progressive Conservative Party (2015)
Residence	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Alma mater	College of the North Atlantic (Stephenville)
Website	Fisherman's Road

Born in Gander and raised in Riverhead, Harbour Grace, and Bay Roberts, Cleary graduated from the journalism program at the Stephenville campus of the College of the North Atlantic in 1989. On May 2, 2011, Cleary was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the New Democratic Party in the 2011 election. He was defeated in the 2015 Canadian federal election, after which he switched parties to run as a Progressive Conservative in the 2015 Newfoundland and Labrador provincial election and was defeated in Windsor Lake. He was president of the Federation of Independent Seafood Harvesters (FISH-NL) from its founding to its disillusion.

Journalism

As a journalist, Cleary covered most of the major events in Newfoundland and Labrador over the past two decades. He was fisheries reporter for The Telegram in 1992 when the moratorium was first introduced on northern cod. He also worked as a political and investigative reporter.

Cleary was the editor-in-chief of The Independent newspaper and was known for his outspoken and controversial articles. For example, Cleary claimed in his columns that Quebec had too much power in Canadian government institutions and said that Canada's top two problems were Quebec and Quebec.[1] Cleary also earned a reputation as a steadfast Newfoundland separatist, such as in May 2008, when he wrote "I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but now that we’re rolling in the cash it may be time to consider breaking away from the country of Canada.”[2] When The Independent went out of business he went on to host Nightline, a VOCM radio call in program. Cleary also worked for The Newfoundland Herald and NTV.

Federal politics

Cleary first entered politics when he became the New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate in the riding of St. John's South—Mount Pearl in the October 2008 federal election. His candidacy led to some controversy for him and NDP leader Jack Layton for comments Cleary had written only a couple of years before when he was a journalist. Cleary had referred to NDP supporters as a "small pocket of aging granolas and artsy-fartsies" and that they were "a mainstream party that wouldn't win an election if Jackie Layton was given a 100-seat head start."[3][4] Despite his late entrance into the campaign and his previous comments he still managed to place a strong second in the riding.[2][5]

On September 17, 2009, the New Democrats nominated Cleary as their candidate in St. John's South-Mount Pearl for the next federal election.[6] In October 2010, Cleary announced that he would withdraw his candidacy. He stated that being a political candidate had created a conflict with his journalism work and that he wished to continue with his journalism career. He also noted that he had severed all ties with the NDP.[7] However, in March 2011 with the announcement of a federal election, Cleary said he would return to run for the NDP again.[8] On May 2, Cleary defeated Liberal Siobhán Coady receiving 18,332 votes to Coady's 10,670.[9]

After Lorraine Michael stepped down as the leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party in early 2015, Cleary publicly mused running for the party's leadership in the 2015 leadership election, but ultimately decided to not seek the position.[10]

In the 2015 federal election, Cleary was defeated by Liberal Seamus O'Regan.[11][12] On election night, NDP leader Tom Mulcair called Cleary his “political hero”.[13] He also supports ending the NDP's association with trade unions.

Provincial politics

After his defeat in the 2015 federal election, Cleary entered talks with the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador to run under their banner in the 2015 Newfoundland and Labrador general election.[14] On October 30, Cleary announced that he would seek the party's nomination in the electoral district of Windsor Lake.[15] He won the Progressive Conservative nomination but was defeated in the general election by Liberal incumbent Cathy Bennett.[16]

Union activism

In 2016, Cleary started efforts to organize a new union of fish harvesters, to be called the Federation of Independent Seafood Harvesters, or FISH-NL, as a rival to the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union.[17] Cleary travelled throughout the province signing up members for union certification, their application for union recognition was considered by the Labour Relations Board from 2016 to 2018.[18] On September 28, 2018 the Labour Relations Board ruled that FISH-NL did not have enough support to trigger a ratification vote.[19] On December 3, 2019, Cleary announced the disillusion of FISH-NL after it failed to gain the necessary 4000 signatures after a second membership drive to trigger a ratification vote.[20]

Electoral history

Provincial

2015 Newfoundland and Labrador general election: Windsor Lake
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Cathy Bennett	3,182	66.40
	Progressive Conservative	Ryan Cleary	970	20.24
	New Democratic	Don Rowe	640	13.36
Total valid votes			4,792	100.0
Turnout			52.59
Eligible voters			9,088

Federal

2015 Canadian federal election: St. John's South—Mount Pearl
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Seamus O'Regan	25,992	58.02	+29.32	–
	New Democratic	Ryan Cleary	16,467	36.76	–9.58	–
	Conservative	Marek Krol	2,047	4.57	–19.64	–
	Green	Jackson McLean	365	0.81	+0.09	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			44,801	100.0		$200,174.30
Total rejected ballots			133	0.30	+0.02
Turnout			44,934	67.13	+8.16
Eligible voters			66,936
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+19.45
Source: Elections Canada[21][22]

2011 Canadian federal election: St. John's South—Mount Pearl
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Ryan Cleary	18,681	47.92	+7.36	$67,211.17
	Liberal	Siobhán Coady	11,130	28.55	-14.77	$81,760.42
	Conservative	Loyola Sullivan	8,883	22.79	+10.24	$78,347.37
	Green	Rick Austin	291	0.75	-1.11	none listed
Total valid votes/Expense limit			38,985	100.0	–	$82,628.65
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			108	0.28	+0.01
Turnout			39,093	58.97	+7.02
Eligible voters			66,294
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+11.06
Sources:[23][24]

2008 Canadian federal election: St. John's South—Mount Pearl
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Siobhán Coady	14,920	43.32	+10.32	$63,155.64
	New Democratic	Ryan Cleary	13,971	40.56	+18.87	$18,947.03
	Conservative	Merv Wiseman	4,324	12.55	-32.13	$63,115.88
	Green	Ted Warren	643	1.86	+1.23	$172.03
	Newfoundland and Labrador First	Greg Byrne	402	1.16	–	$2,908.17
	Independent	Terry Christopher Butler	179	0.51	–	none listed
Total valid votes/Expense limit			34,439	100.0	–	$80,167
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			92	0.27	-0.06
Turnout			34,531	51.95
Eligible voters			66,467
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		-4.28

References

1. Leblanc, Daniel (September 6, 2012). "Now an NDP MP, former Nfld. columnist Ryan Cleary stands by past Quebec bashing". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
2. Foot Richard (May 13, 2011). "The NDP's former Newfoundland separatist". Maclean's. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
3. Brennan, Richard (September 12, 2008). "Layton defends candidate who called NDP 'losers'". The Toronto Star. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
4. "Hey, 'losers'! Journalists-turned-candidates haunted by political critiques". Canadian Broadcasting corporation. September 10, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
5. "Cleary seeks nomination in N.L. riding". CBC News. September 5, 2008.
6. "The Telegram". www.thetelegram.com. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
7. "Cleary bows out as NDP candidate". CBC News. October 29, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
8. "Cleary considering federal comeback". CBC News. March 18, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
9. "NDP's Cleary knocks Liberals out of St. John's riding". CBC News. May 2, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
10. "Ryan Cleary, Earle McCurdy considering bids for NDP leadership". CBC News. January 7, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
11. "Seamus O'Regan upsets Ryan Cleary for Liberal win in St. John's South-Mount Pearl". CBC News. October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
12. "O'Regan triumphs over Cleary; Krol blames Williams". The Telegram. St. John's. October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
13. "Angry Tom and crooked Cleary". fishermansroad.blogspot.ca. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
14. "Defeated NDP MP Ryan Cleary in talks with PC Party, sources say". CBC News. October 28, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
15. "Ryan Cleary says fears of Liberal juggernaut 'kept him awake'". CBC News. October 30, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
16. "Ryan Cleary says 7 seats 'good news' for PCs despite own loss". CBC News. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
17. "Ryan Cleary challenges FFAW to allow outside audit of finances - CBC News". Retrieved April 1, 2018.
21. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — St. John's South—Mount Pearl (Validated results)". Elections Canada. October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
22. "Elections Canada On-line - Élection Canada en-ligne". www.elections.ca. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
23. "OVR / ROS". www.elections.ca. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
24. Canada, Elections. "Search for Returns". www.elections.ca. Retrieved April 1, 2018.

External links

• Ryan Cleary – Parliament of Canada biography