Arthur Ellis

Arthur Ellis (February 28, 1890 – October 19, 1964) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was mayor of Ottawa from 1928 until 1929.

He was born in Ottawa, the son of Ottawa mayor James A. Dent Ellis. Arthur Ellis studied at Osgoode Hall, was called to the Ontario bar in 1913 and set up practice in Ottawa. He served on the Ottawa school board in 1916 and 1917 before being elected to Ottawa city council where he served as an alderman in 1920 and then on the Board of Control for six years beginning in 1921.

On November 25, 1935, he struck and killed a pedestrian on Highway 15 north of Kingston, Ontario and was charged with criminal negligence. He was acquitted in 1936, but the notoriety of the incident hurt his chances as a candidate in the Ontario Conservative leadership convention, held several weeks after the trial, in which he placed seventh with ten votes. He had been charged after he hit a traffic cop's motorcycle, failed to stop, and hit a parked car following a chase. An open bottle of wine was found in the front seat of Ellis' car.