Robert Gordon "Bob" Smellie (August 23, 1923 – September 29, 2005) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

from 1959 to 1966, and served as a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the government of Dufferin Roblin. The son of Albert George Smellie and Jessie May Cummings, Smellie was born in

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, was educated at

Brandon College Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrollment of 3375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon C ...

and the Manitoba Law School, and worked as a barrister at law before entering politics. He served in the Canadian Army with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles during

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and was a member of the Canadian Legion and of the Manitoba Travel and Convention Association. In 1946, Smellie married Lois Evelyn Cochrane. He was originally a supporter of the

Liberal-Progressives Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...

, but was drafted by Dufferin Roblin to join the Progressive Conservatives in the mid-1950s.''Winnipeg Free Press'', 13 February 1969, p. 15. He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the 1958 provincial election, but lost to

Liberal-Progressive Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...

incumbent Rodney Clement by 130 votes in the constituency of

Birtle-Russell Birtle-Russell is a former provincial electoral division in Manitoba, Canada. Birtle-Russell was established in 1957, created by the first Independent Boundaries Commission in Manitoba. It was located in the western part of the province, on the b ...

. He ran again in the 1959 election, and defeated Clement by 224 votes as the Progressive Conservatives won their first majority government in forty-five years. Smellie was re-elected by a greater margin in the 1962 election, and was named Minister of Municipal Affairs on February 27, 1963. He remained in this position until July 22, 1966, when he was demoted to

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

. He lost to Rod Clement by 145 votes in the 1966 provincial election. After his defeat, Smellie served chair of the Manitoba Local Boundaries Commission. This group produced a report on Winnipeg's internal boundaries in 1970, but its findings were superseded by the creation of a

unicity The amalgamation of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was the municipal incorporation of the old City of Winnipeg, 11 surrounding municipalities, and the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg (Metro) into a one Unified City of Winnipeg, or Unicity. Th ...

the following year. After he retired from the practice of law, he served as chairman of the Municipal Board of Manitoba. Smellie died in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smellie, Robert 1923 births Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs 2005 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Brandon University alumni University of Manitoba alumni Lawyers in Manitoba Robson Hall alumni