Preceded by Ernest Watkins Occupation lawyer and politician Constituency Calgary Glenmore Name Bill Dickie | Premier Peter Lougheed Role Politician Preceded by Allen Patrick Succeeded by Hugh Planche | |
Born August 13, 1925 (age 98)
Calgary, Alberta ( 1925-08-13 ) Political party Alberta Liberal Party, Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta | ||
William "Bill" Daniel Dickie (born August 13, 1925) is a former corporate lawyer as well as a municipal and provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as an Alderman in Calgary from 1961 to 1964 and also served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1963 to 1975. From 1963 until 1969 he sat with the opposition Liberal party before crossing the floor to the Progressive Conservative party where he sat with that party in opposition and government. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of Peter Lougheed from 1971 to 1975.
Contents
Early life
William Daniel Dickie was born in Calgary, Alberta. He began practicing corporate law in 1951. Dickie laid the legal framework to have the first Canadian company listed on the American Stock Exchange.
Political career
Dickie began his political career when he was elected as an Alderman to Calgary city council. He held his seat until 1964. While still serving as an Alderman Dickie ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1963 Alberta general election as a candidate for the Alberta Liberal party. He won a surprise election victory by a healthy margin in a four way race to pick up the Calgary Glenmore electoral district. The Progressive Conservatives had previously held the district and ran star candidate Ned Corrigal who was a broadcaster for CFAC radio. Corrigal finished a distant third place.
Dickie was re-elected with a smaller popular vote in the 1967 Alberta general election. He defeated three other candidates to hold his seat. He was enticed by Peter Lougheed to cross the floor and join the Progressive Conservative caucus and did so on November 23, 1969. The Alberta Liberals would not hold a seat again in Calgary until 1986.
Voters in Calgary Glenmore re-elected Dickie as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1971 Alberta general election. He won with a landslide taking 56% of the popular vote against Social Credit candidate and famous Alberta curler Ray Kingsmith. After the election Premier Peter Lougheed appointed Dickie to the Executive Council of Alberta to serve as the Minister of Mines and Minerals. He held that portfolio until he retired from the legislature at dissolution in 1975.