Arthur Ellis (February 28, 1890 – October 19, 1964) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer and politician. He was

mayor of Ottawa In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

from 1928 until 1929.Dave Mullington "Chain of Office: Biographic Sketches of Ottawa's Mayors (1847-1948)" (Renfrew, Ontario: General Store Publishing House, 2005) He was born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, the son of Ottawa mayor James A. Dent Ellis. Arthur Ellis studied at

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, ...

, was called to the Ontario bar in 1913 and set up practice in Ottawa. He served on the Ottawa school board in 1916 and 1917 before being elected to Ottawa city council where he served as an alderman in 1920 and then on the Board of Control for six years beginning in 1921. After two terms as mayor of Ottawa, he was elected in the 1929 provincial election to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

, representing

Ottawa South Ottawa South (french: Ottawa-Sud) is a federal electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by David McGuinty, brother of former Premier of Ontario and Ottawa South MPP Dalton McGuinty ...

for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He was rumoured to be in line to become

Provincial Treasurer In Canadian politics the Provincial Treasurer is a senior portfolio in the Executive Council (or cabinet) of provincial governments. The position is the provincial equivalent of the Minister of Finance and is responsible for setting the provinc ...

but was consigned to the backbench when

Joseph Monteith Joseph Dunsmore Monteith (June 2, 1865 – January 8, 1934) was an Ontario MLA for Perth North from 1923 to 1934. He was treasurer from 1926 to 1930 and Minister of Labour, Public Works and Highways from 1930 to 1934. Monteith, a physician ...

defied pundits by retaining his seat in the legislature in the 1929 election. After the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...

under

Mitchell Hepburn Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the 20th cent ...

took power in the 1934 provincial election Ellis moved to the

Opposition bench Parliamentary opposition is a form of opposition (politics), political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster system, Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''executive (government), gov ...

where he achieved prominence as finance critic.Biographical Sketches of the Early Mayors of Ottawa
by James Mullington, page 137-140. On November 25, 1935, he struck and killed a pedestrian on Highway 15 north of

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

and was charged with

criminal negligence In criminal law, criminal negligence is a surrogate state of mind required to constitute a ''conventional'' (as opposed to ''strictly liable'') offense. It is not, strictly speaking, a (Law Latin for "guilty mind") because it refers to an ob ...

. He was acquitted in 1936, but the notoriety of the incident hurt his chances as a candidate in the Ontario Conservative leadership convention, held several weeks after the trial, in which he placed seventh with ten votes. He remained in the legislature until 1937 when he retired from politics. In 1940, as the result of a separate incident, Ellis was convicted of driving while drunk and sentenced to 30 days in jail."Ex-Mayor Jailed for Drunk Driving", ''Toronto Daily Star'', February 10, 1940 He had been charged after he hit a traffic cop's motorcycle, failed to stop, and hit a parked car following a chase. An open bottle of wine was found in the front seat of Ellis' car.

References

* ''Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1931'', AL Normandin

External links

Member's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Arthur 1890 births 1964 deaths Mayors of Ottawa Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Lawyers in Ontario Canadian people of English descent