Early Life and Municipal Career
Leal was born and raised in Peterborough. He has a Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from Trent University (1978) and a degree in Business Administration from the University of Windsor (1981). He served on the Peterborough city council from 1985 to 2003, representing the Otonabee Ward, and also worked as executive assistant to Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) John Eakins and Larry South in the 1980s. In private life, he was a health and safety representative for Coyle Corrugated Containers before his election to the provincial legislature.
Leal sided with a majority of Peterborough councillors in rejecting the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada's call for a referendum to declare Peterborough a unilingual anglophone city in 1988.
In 2000, Leal cast a symbolic vote against granting $535,000 under the National Child Benefit reinvestment plan to agencies that provide services for the poor. He explained that his vote was a protest against management of this program by Mike Harris's provincial government, in which monies earned by welfare recipients in the Ontario Works program were diverted to the agencies in question. While he acknowledged that these organizations did useful work, Leal argued that the money would be better spent if kept by the actual recipients. Other councillors agreed with Leal's argument, but added they were powerless to change the system at the local level.
Leal chaired Peterborough's social services committee after the 2000 municipal election and also served on a committee that looked into the future prospects of the Peterborough Memorial Centre. In early 2002, he argued that the existing building should be renovated rather than replaced.
In 2002, Leal voted against construction of a parkway through the city's protected green space. The following year, he voted for a motion opposing the American invasion of Iraq. Leal opposed the proclamation of a gay pride day for Peterborough in 2003, although he later attended the city's Pride parade as a Member of Provincial Parliament.
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