McClelland ran for the Ontario legislature in the general election of 1977, losing to New Democrat (NDP) Ted Bounsall by over 3,500 votes in Windsor—Sandwich.
In 1980, he was appointed a board member for Ward 1 after the death of trustee Donald Hill, but was again narrowly defeated in the general election that November.
Prior to the 1990 election, McClelland was challenged for the Liberal nomination in his riding by the representative of a group which claimed the Peterson government had made insufficient outreach efforts to Ontario's Sikh community.
The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the 1995 Ontario election, and McClelland lost to PC candidate Joe Spina by 5,348 votes.
[2] In May 2015, the Law Society of Upper Canada suspended McClelland for mishandling the finances of several clients including some family members.