Paul Wyatt Dick, (October 27, 1940 – May 2, 2018) was a lawyer,

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician and broker. He was born in

Kapuskasing, Ontario Kapuskasing ( ) is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst and northwest of Timmins. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917. Etymology The town of Kapuskasin ...

, the son of Wyatt Dick and Constance Grace Harrison, and educated in

Arnprior Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Arnprior has experienced significant growth in populations with the widening of the Ontario Highway 417 to four lanes. The town experienced an increase in population by 8.4% from 2011 to 2 ...

, Port Hope, at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

and the University of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. Dick was called to the Ontario bar in 1969. He served as assistant

crown attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel () or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...

for Carleton County from 1969 until 1972, when he entered private practice in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. In 1981, he was named

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. Dick was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the 1972 general election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Lanark—Renfrew—Carleton. In 1983, he became Deputy Opposition House Leader. He was appointed a parliamentary secretary following the Tory victory in the 1984 general election under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

. In 1986, Dick was promoted to Cabinet as Associate Minister of National Defence. He was re-elected as an MP in the 1988 election for the redistributed riding of Lanark—Carleton, and was moved to the position of Minister of Supply and Services in 1989. When

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician who was the 19th prime minister of Canada from June to November 1993. Campbell is the first and only female prime minister of Canada. Prior to becoming the f ...

succeeded Mulroney as prime minister in June 1993, she retained Dick as Supply and Services minister, while adding an appointment as

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

. However, in the subsequent 1993 election, Dick was defeated, losing to Liberal Ian Murray by over 18,000 votes. At 53, and with having spent most of his adult life in politics, Dick found that his political experience counted for little in job interviews. After being turned down for executive or management level positions, Dick found entry-level work at a stock brokerage firm. Dick was successful and ultimately earned a six-figure salary. The story of Dick's life after politics is one of those profiled in the 2003 book ''The Dark Side: The Personal Price of a Political Life'' by

Steve Paikin Steven Hillel Paikin (born June 9, 1960) is a Canadian journalist, author, and documentary producer. Paikin has primarily worked for TVOntario (TVO), Ontario's public broadcaster, and is anchor of TVO's flagship current affairs program ''The Ag ...

. Dick died at home of a heart attack at the age of 77. There is a Paul W. Dick

fonds In archival science, a fonds (plural also ''fonds'') is a group of documents that share the same origin and have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be ...

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, Paul 1940 births 2018 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Lawyers in Ontario People from Kapuskasing University of Western Ontario alumni University of New Brunswick alumni Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry Members of the 25th Canadian Ministry Canadian King's Counsel 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada