Dick Bell

Richard Albert "Dick" Bell, PC (September 4, 1913 – March 20, 1988) was a member of the Canadian House of Commons representing Carleton from 1957 to 1963 and from 1965 to 1968.

He was born at Britannia Bay in Nepean Township, Ontario in 1913. He served as solicitor for Nepean Township and the City of Nepean.

Elected as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament in the government of John Diefenbaker, Bell was Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 1962 to 1963.

Dick Bell Park on the Ottawa River, home of the Nepean Sailing Club, was named in his honour.

He died in Ottawa in 1988. He is buried in Pinecrest Cemetery in Ottawa.

The family home, "Fairfields", 3080 Richmond Rd. where he was born and died was donated to the city of Ottawa in 2000. Fairfields Heritage Property was built in the 1840s. The residence was rebuilt in the Gothic Revival style after a fire in 1870. The heritage home, which sits on 1.84 acres of the prominent Bell family’s once extensive farm, was included amongst other architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings in Doors Open Ottawa, held June 2 and 3, 2012.^[1]

Electoral History

Canadian federal election, 1965
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Bell	32,456	43.90	–2.39
	Liberal	Lloyd Francis	31,523	42.64	–5.37
	New Democratic	Donald V. Stirling	9,953	13.46	+8.79
Total valid votes			73,932	100.0
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+1.49

Canadian federal election, 1963
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Lloyd Francis	32,325	48.01	+6.02
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Bell	31,168	46.29	–5.40
	New Democratic	Lewis Hanley	3,144	4.67	–0.19
	Social Credit	Harold Herbert Splett	699	1.04	–0.44
Total valid votes			67,336	100.0
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+5.71

Canadian federal election, 1962
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Bell	32,125	51.66	–15.81
	Liberal	Lloyd Francis	26,109	41.99	+13.86
	New Democratic	Lewis Hanley	3,024	4.86	+1.20
	Social Credit	Harold Herbert Splett	922	1.48	+0.75
Total valid votes			62,180	100.0
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		–14.84

Canadian federal election, 1958
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Bell	32,741	67.47	+5.69
	Liberal	George Humble	13,652	28.13	–5.79
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Stewart I. Crawford	1,777	3.66	+0.70
	Social Credit	Grace Gough	355	0.73	–0.62
Total valid votes			48,525	100.0
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+5.74

Canadian federal election, 1957
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Bell	27,865	61.78	+6.53
	Liberal	Frank Egan Dunlap	15,298	33.92	–6.34
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Stewart I. Crawford	1,334	2.96	+0.01
	Social Credit	Eric Kingsley Fallis	607	1.35	–0.19
Total valid votes			45,104	100.0
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+6.44

References

1. http://ottawa.ca/doorsopen Doors Open Ottawa