Robert Gordon "Bob" Smellie (August 23, 1923-September 29, 2005) was a politician in

Manitoba, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative

Assembly of Manitoba from 1959 to 1966, and served as a cabinet minister in the
government of Dufferin Roblin.[1]
The son of Albert George Smellie and Jessie May Cummings,[2] Smellie was born in
Russell, was educated at Brandon College 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 World War II and was a member of the Canadian Legion and of the
Manitoba Travel and Convention Association.[3] In 1946, Smellie married Lois Evelyn
Cochrane.[2] He was originally a supporter of the Liberal-Progressives, but was drafted by
Dufferin Roblin to join the Progressive Conservatives in the mid-1950s.[4]
He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the 1958 provincial election, but lost[2] to
Liberal-Progressive incumbent Rodney Clement by 130 votes in the constituency of BirtleRussell. He ran again in the 1959 election, and defeated Clement[1] 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. He lost to Rod Clement by 145 votes in
the 1966 provincial election.[1]
After his defeat, Smellie served chair of the Manitoba Local Boundaries Commission.[3]
This group produced a report on Winnipeg's internal boundaries in 1970, but its findings
were superseded by the creation of a unicity the following year.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.[3]