Dalton Arthur Bales (February 21, 1920 – October 30, 1979) was a politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of 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 ...

from 1963 to 1975 who represented the riding of

York Mills York Mills is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred around Yonge Street and York Mills Road located in the district of North York. In 2010, it encompassed the fourth and seventh most affluent postal codes in Canada. It is re ...

. He was a cabinet minister in the governments of

John Robarts John Parmenter Robarts (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Early life Roba ...

and

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

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.

Politics

He entered politics in 1958 by being elected to the

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

Town Council as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

. He defeated Paul Graham in Ward 2 by 780 votes. He was re-elected in 1960. In

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of

. He defeated

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

James Service by 8,434 votes. He was a major organizer in the Toronto area where the party won 22 seats. He was re-elected in 1967 and 1971. In 1966 he was appointed Minister of Labour in the government of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

. In 1971,

appointed him Minister of Municipal Affairs. In 1972 he was promoted to

Attorney General of Ontario The Attorney General of Ontario is the chief legal adviser to His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario and, by extension, the Government of Ontario. The Attorney General is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario (the cabinet) and ...

. In 1972, Bales and several other cabinet ministers were accused of being in a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

over property they owned. In Bales' case he was accused of having purchased land in

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

in 1969 while the Cabinet was considering development plans in the area. Bales offered to resign from cabinet but his resignation was refused. The incidents resulted in Davis issuing the province's first conflict of interest guidelines for cabinet ministers and later parliamentary assistants to follow. He was dropped from cabinet in 1974 during a major

cabinet shuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

. 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.

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.

References

External links

*
Dalton A. Bales fonds
Archives of Ontario {{DEFAULTSORT:Bales, Dalton 1920 births 1979 deaths Attorneys General of Ontario Lawyers in Ontario Members of the Executive Council of Ontario People from North York Politicians from Toronto Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 20th-century Canadian lawyers