Al Leach
| Al Leach | |
|---|---|
| Ontario MPP | |
|
In office 1995–1999 |
|
| Preceded by | Tim Murphy |
| Succeeded by | Riding abolished |
| Constituency | St. George—St. David |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 9, 1935 Toronto, Ontario |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Finegan |
| Residence | Rye, New York |
| Occupation | Civil Servant |
Allan F. Leach (born December 9, 1935) is a former transportation executive and politician in Ontario, Canada. In the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s he was the head of GO Transit and later the Toronto Transit Commission. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999, and was a prominent cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.
Before entering politics, Leach spent 23 years in various managerial positions with the Ministry of Transportation Province of Ontario. He later moved to GO Transit, and was GO's Managing Director from 1977 to 1987. He was hired as Chief General Manager of the Toronto Transit Commission in 1987, and served in that position until resigning in early 1995 to seek political office. Leach was named North American Transit Manager of the year in 1994 by the American Transit Association.
Leach was elected to the provincial legislature in the 1995 Ontario election, narrowly defeating Liberal incumbent Tim Murphy and New Democrat Brent Hawkes in the downtown Toronto riding of St. George—St. David. His victory was generally considered an upset. In 1995, the Progressive Conservative Party's electoral strength was concentrated in rural areas and the commuter regions around Toronto—Leach's victory in an urbane, downtown riding was atypical of his party's showing elsewhere. Many consider Leach's victory to have been the result of a vote split between the Liberal and NDP candidates: he received less than 34% of the riding's vote, out polling Murphy by only 337 votes and Hawkes by 963.
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