Cleary was elected to the Ontario legislature in the
1987 provincial election, defeating
Progressive Conservative incumbent
Luc Guindon in the
Cornwall riding by about 1,000 votes. The Liberals won a majority government in this region, and Cleary served as a government backbencher for the next three years. The Liberals were defeated by the
Ontario New Democratic Party in the
1990 election, although Cleary managed to retain his own riding by an increased margin. In opposition, he served as his party's Agriculture Critic for the next five years. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the
1995 election, though Cleary managed to increase his majority again in Cornwall. He continued serving as his party's agriculture critic until 1996, when he was shifted to rural affairs. Cleary faced the most difficult re-election battle of his career in the
provincial election of 1999, in which redistribution forced him to face longstanding Progressive Conservative MP
Noble Villeneuve in the riding of
Stormont—Dundas—Charlottenburgh. Cleary eventually won the contest by 630 votes; most of the urban vote favoured him, while most of the rural vote favoured Villeneuve. He continued serving as his party's rural affairs critic until 2003, when he retired from the legislature. He also supported calls for a public inquiry into reports of an organized
child sex ring in the Cornwall area. Although not a skilled public speaker or a leading figure in the Liberal Party, Cleary was generally regarded as a good community representative during his time in the legislature. He was not considered to be an especially partisan figure, and in fact criticized party leader
Dalton McGuinty for his personal attacks on
Mike Harris in 1999. Cleary also held
socially conservative views on some issues, including
abortion. ==References==