Ray Connell

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Ray Connell

| image =

| caption =

| office1 = Ontario MPP

| term_start1 = 1967

| term_end1 = 1971

| predecessor1 = New riding

| successor1 = Don Ewen

| constituency1 = Wentworth North

| term_start2 = 1951

| term_end2 = 1967

| predecessor2 = Russell Kelly

| successor2 = Riding abolished

| constituency2 = Hamilton—Wentworth

| party = Progressive Conservative

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|12|1}}

| birth_place = West Flamborough, Ontario

| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|11|14|1916|12|1}}

| death_place = Hamilton, Ontario

| occupation = Farmer

| spouse = Irene Brenn

| children = 2

}}

Thomas Ray Connell (December 1, 1916 – November 14, 1986) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1951 to 1971. He represented the ridings of Hamilton—Wentworth and Wentworth North. He was a member of cabinet in the governments of Leslie Frost and John Robarts.

Background

A farmer, Connell married Irene Brenn in 1942. They raised two children, Allan and Brenda.{{cite book |title=Canadian Parliamentary Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmFLAAAAMAAJ&q=%22CONNELL,+THOMAS+RAY,+(+Hamilton-+Wenworth).+B.+Dec.+1st,+1916,+at**%22 |author=Pierre Normandin |date=1953 |page=597}}

Politics

First elected in the general election in 1951,{{cite news |author=Canadian Press |title=Complete Ontario Vote |newspaper=The Montreal Gazette |date=November 22, 1951 |location=Montreal|page=4|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l6gtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hZkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7192%2C3337413|accessdate=2014-03-22}} Connell was re-elected in the general elections in 1955,{{cite news |author=Canadian Press |title=Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |date=June 10, 1955 |location=Ottawa |page=4 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vCAvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TN0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4268%2C2256424 |accessdate=2014-03-22}} 1959,{{cite news |author=Canadian Press |title=Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |date=June 12, 1959 |location=Ottawa |page=26 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Yh0yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=d-QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6095%2C2812390 |accessdate=2014-03-22}} 1963,{{cite news |author=Canadian Press |title=78 in Tory Blue Wave -- 23 Is All Grits Saved |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=September 26, 1963 |location=Windsor, Ontario |page=25 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QDM_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=T1EMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6134%2C3886120|accessdate=2014-05-24}} and 1967.{{cite news |author=Canadian Press |title=Tories win, but... |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=October 18, 1967 |location=Windsor, Ontario |page=B2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TDM_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=VVEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3673%2C2835192 |accessdate=2014-03-30}} During his first term in office, he served on variety of Standing Committees.

On November 1, 1956, he was appointed to Leslie Frost's cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio and, on April 28, 1958, he was appointed as the Minister of Reform Institutions. On December 22, 1958, he was promoted to a senior Cabinet post, as Minister of Public Works, which he would go on to hold for a remarkable eleven years. On June 5, 1969, having already indicated that he would not be running in the next general election, Connell was dropped from Cabinet and he retired in 1971.{{cite web|title=Legislative Assembly tributes|url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/house_detail.do?locale=en&Sess=2&Parl=33&Date=1986-11-17}}

Later life

After retiring from politics, Connell became involved with the horse racing industry. He set about to develop a horse racing facility in the Flamborough area, north of Hamilton, Ontario.{{cite web |title=Proud to be at Flamboro Downs… |publisher=Flamboro Downs |url=http://flamborodowns.com/careers/Proud.aspx |date=2014}} He secured three large investors and, in 1972, work began on the construction of what came to be known as Flamboro Downs racetrack. Connell served as President of the company until the mid-1980s.{{cite web |title=SC Rewind: Flamboro Highlights |publisher=Standardbred Canada |url=http://standardbredcanada.ca/news/3-27-10/sc-rewind-flamboro-highlights.html |date=March 27, 2010}}

He died November 14, 1986, in Hamilton.{{cite news |title=Former MPP 'Ray' Connell loved racing |first=Kevin |last=Donovan |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=November 16, 1986 |page=11}}