Billy Joe MacLean, long-serving mayor and former N.S. cabinet minister, dies at 88
MacLean served in Buchanan cabinet but was expelled for expense account fraud in '86
Billy Joe MacLean, one of Nova Scotia's most colourful political characters whose decades-long career included a memorable stint in the provincial cabinet in the early 1980s, has died. He was 88.
MacLean died in the early hours of Wednesday at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital from a group A streptococcus infection, said family members.
The longtime owner of the Port Hawkesbury bar The Carriage House — formerly Billy Joe's Place — first ran for municipal politics in 1970, securing a seat on Port Hawkesbury town council.
Three years later, he challenged incumbent Art Langley for the mayor's job and began an eight-year run in that post.
He returned to local politics in 1994, defeating incumbent mayor Almon Chisholm for the first of five consecutive election victories, including two by acclamation. He retired from municipal politics in 2016.
Provincial cabinet duties mired in controversy
MacLean entered provincial politics in 1981, winning the riding of Inverness South for the Progressive Conservatives. Then premier John Buchanan gave MacLean the post of minister of tourism and culture, a position he retained after retaining Inverness South in the 1984 election.
In 1986, MacLean was charged with — and later convicted of — expense account fraud, leading to his expulsion from the provincial legislature. Among those voting in favour of the expulsion were MacLean's brother, Inverness North MLA Dr. Jim MacLean, and Buchanan himself, who is said to have shed tears as MacLean's expulsion was complete.
However, in 1987, MacLean ran as an Independent candidate for the byelection called to replace him, winning back Inverness South and returning to the legislature. He remained there until the 1988 general election, when he came in second to Liberal candidate Danny Graham.
Questioned about the loss by CBC News at his Reeves Street bar, MacLean retorted, "I'm just happy [then Liberal leader] Vince MacLean is not the premier of this province right now," earning raucous applause from his supporters.
A return to the mayor's chair
In 1993, MacLean made several attempts to secure the federal PC nomination for Cape Breton Highlands-Canso, but was rebuffed by Prime Minister Kim Campbell, who refused to sign his nomination papers.
He finally withdrew from the race shortly after the Stora Enso pulp and paper mill in nearby Point Tupper announced it was in danger of closing, suggesting that the mill "is our lifeblood" and would not be well served by the distraction of a local political squabble.
The federal PCs were reduced to two seats in that fall's election, with Campbell losing her own bid for re-election. MacLean returned to the Port Hawkesbury mayor's chair less than a year later. He served a combined 32 years as the town's mayor.
MacLean credited for infrastructure
MacLean's supporters and successors feel he has left his mark on Port Hawkesbury. The town's 20-year-old Civic Centre has a plaque dedicated to MacLean in the Believer's Hall that leads to the Shannon Studio, where MacLean presided over dozens of council meetings.
Others cite MacLean's drive to find a new owner for the Point Tupper mill shortly after then owner NewPage Corporation put the facility in hot-idle mode and then announced its bankruptcy in the summer of 2011.
B.C.-based Stern Partners rebranded the mill with the name Port Hawkesbury Paper in 2012.
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