LogoutMr. Rendall Dick
This comprehensive oral history interview with Archibald Rendall Dick covers his distinguished career in Ontario government from the 1950s to 1980s. Dick describes his path from University of Toronto Law School through articling to positions in the Attorney General’s Department and Department of Highways, eventually becoming Deputy Attorney General in 1964. He played key roles in major government initiatives including highway development and property expropriation for controlled access roads, the St. Lawrence Seaway project, and significant legal system reforms.
Dick provides detailed insights into constitutional conferences from 1967-1971, working closely with Premier John Robarts on federal-provincial relations and the failed Victoria Conference. He discusses major judicial reforms including the transformation from municipal police courts to the Provincial Court system, the establishment of Legal Aid, and court administration changes. The interview concludes with his transition to Under-Treasurer at the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1983, reflecting on his career satisfaction and the evolution of Ontario’s legal and governmental institutions over three decades.
This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.
References
The following are a selection of topics discussed in this oral history.
- County Courts
- Court of Appeal
- Criminal Division
- Divisional Court
- Family Division
- High Court of Justice
- Magistrates Court
- Police Courts
- Provincial Courts
- Small Claims Court
- Superior Court of Justice
- Supreme Court of Canada
- Osgoode Hall
- University of Birmingham Law School
- University of Toronto Law School
- Attorney General's Department
- Correctional Services
- Department of Highways
- Management Board
- Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations
- Ministry of Housing
- Ontario Hydro
- Ontario Provincial Police
- Ontario Securities Commission
- Policy and Priorities Board
- Solicitor General
- Treasury
- Bill 99 controversy
- Confederation for Tomorrow Conference
- constitutional conferences 1967-1971
- Constitutional Patriation
- Court System Reorganization
- Department of Highways scandal
- OPEC energy crisis
- Provincial Courts Act
- Roach Commission on Organized Crime
- St. Lawrence Seaway Construction
- Victoria Conference 1971
- World War II
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Canada
- Manitoba
- Michigan
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- PEI
- Quebec
- Saskatchewan
- Toronto
- United States
- Blakes
- Cassels Brock
- Osler, Hoskin
- Wood, Gundy
- Bill 99 of 1964
- Ellis case
- Liptay case
- Prudhommes case
- Windfall Oils
- Lawyer
- Government
- Ministry of the Attorney General
- Allan Lawrence
- Arthur Wishart
- Bill Common
- Bora Laskin
- Cecil Wright
- Charles Dubin
- Chief Justice McRuer
- D'Arcy McKeough
- Dana Porter
- Frank Miller
- Fred Cass
- John Arnup
- John Bowlby
- John Robarts
- Laura Legge
- Leslie Frost
- Maurice Duplessis
- Pierre Trudeau
- Rendall Dick
- Robert Bourassa
- Roy McMurtry
- William Davis
- Canadian Bar Association
- Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
- Civil Service Association of Ontario
- Law Society of Upper Canada
- Ontario Joint Council
- Ontario Provincial Police Association
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- Administrative Law
- Charter of Rights
- Collective Bargaining
- Constitutional Amendment
- Constitutional Law
- Consumer Protection Law
- controlled access highways
- Court Administration
- Criminal Law
- Evidence Law
- Federal-Provincial Relations
- Judicial Reform
- Legal Aid
- Organized Crime
- patriation of constitution
- property expropriation
- Securities Law
Some of these references were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Archive Details
Files consist of oral history records documenting the life and career of Archibald Rendall Dick (b. 1926), who was a Toronto-area lawyer who worked for the Attorney General's Department, becoming Deputy Attorney General in 1964, and Deputy Minister of Treasury, Economics and Inter-Governmental Affairs (1974-1981). Interview topics include: University of Toronto; Osgoode Hall; Attorney General's Department; Deputy Attorney General; Arthur Wishart; Constitution; Deputy Minister of Treasury, Economics and Inter-Governmental Affairs. Interviewer is unknown. File includes nine audio cassette recordings from a series of nine interviews, a transcript (404 p.) and one photograph of A.R. Dick.