Dalton Bales

Dalton Bales
Ontario MPP
In office 1963–1975
Preceded by	New riding
Succeeded by	Bette Stephenson
Constituency	York Mills
Personal details
Born	February 21, 1920 Lansing, Ontario
Died	October 31, 1979 (aged 59) Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse(s)	Iris Vivian Amundsen
Children	2
Occupation	Lawyer

Dalton Arthur Bales (February 21, 1920 – October 30, 1979) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1975 who represented the riding of York Mills. He was a cabinet minister in the governments of John Robarts and Bill Davis.

Background

Bales joined the Toronto law firm of McLaughlin, Soward in 1946 while he was a law student. He was called to the bar in 1949 and eventually became partner.^[1]

Politics

He entered politics in 1958 by being elected to the North York Town Council as an alderman. He defeated Paul Graham in Ward 2 by 780 votes.^[2] He was re-elected in 1960.^[3]

In 1963, he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of York Mills. He defeated Liberal James Service by 8,434 votes.^[4] He was a major organizer in the Toronto area where the partywon 22 seats.^[5] He was re-elected in 1967 and 1971.^[6][7]

In 1966 he was appointed Minister of Labour in the government of Premier John Robarts.^[8] In 1971, Bill Davis appointed him Minister of Municipal Affairs.^[9] In 1972 he was promoted to Attorney General of Ontario.^[10]

In 1972, Bales and several other cabinet ministers were accused of being in a conflict of interest over property they owned. In Bales' case he was accused of having purchased land in Markham, Ontario in 1969 while the Cabinet was considering development plans in the area. Bales offered to resign from cabinet but his resignation was refused.^[1] The incidents resulted in Davis issuing the province's first conflict of interest guidelines for cabinet ministers and later parliamentary assistants to follow.^[11]

He was dropped from cabinet in 1974 during a major cabinet shuffle. Bales cited declining health and a minor heart attack in 1973 as the reasons for requesting a reduction in his responsibilities. He left politics the next year to return to his legal practice.^[1]

Cabinet posts

Later life

Bales died at the age of 59 when he was struck by a car while attempting to cross Bayview Avenue in Toronto.^[1]

References

1. "Dalton Bales killed by car". The Globe and Mail. October 31, 1979. p. 5.
2. "Suburban elections". Toronto Daily Star. December 2, 1958. p. 8.
3. "Goodhead back in North York". Toronto Daily Star. December 6, 1960. p. 9.
4. Canadian Press (September 26, 1963). "78 in Tory Blue Wave -- 23 Is All Grits Saved". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. 25.
5. Devitt, Vincent (September 26, 1963). "Tories lake 22 Seats In Metro". The Globe and Mail. p. 1.
6. Canadian Press (October 18, 1967). "Tories win, but...". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. B2.
7. "Riding-by-riding returns in provincial election". The Globe and Mail. October 23, 1971. p. 10.
8. "Five added to Cabinet by Robarts". The Globe and Mail. November 25, 1966. p. 1.
9. Manthorpe, Jonathan; Slinger, John (March 2, 1971). "Changes in policies promised: Davis priorities to include environment and jobless". The Globe and Mail. p. 1.
10. "The Cabinet for Ontario". The Globe and Mail. February 3, 1972. p. 4.
11. "Stricter guideline on conflicts is urged for Cabinet ministers". The Globe and Mail. January 12, 1981.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History