# Bill Attewell

William Charles Attewell (January 21, 1932 – December 24, 2021) was a Canadian politician.
A corporate executive, Attewell was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Don Valley East defeating Liberal cabinet minister David Smith in the 1984 federal election that brought Brian Mulroney to power.
As a result of redistribution, he decided to move to the riding of Markham, just outside Toronto, where he owned property, for the 1988 federal election leaving his former riding to former East York mayor Alan Redway who retained the riding for the Tories.
Attewell won Markham, defeating Liberal candidate Jag Bhaduria and former Conservative MP John Gamble who was running as an independent.
A backbencher throughout the Mulroney years, Attewell was appointed parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Kim Campbell after she won the 1993 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. He ran in the 1993 federal election but was defeated by an almost two-to-one margin in Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville by Bhaduria.
Attewell opposed the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party with the Canadian Alliance. He should not be mistaken for Bill Attwell who was president of the Oak Ridges—Markham federal Liberal riding association in 2007.

## Electoral record

vte1993 Canadian federal election: Markham—Whitchurch-Stouffville :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Jag Bhaduria | 35,909 | 46.50 | +14.69 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bill Attewell | 19,695 | 25.51 | -27.59 |
| | Reform | Joe Sherren | 17,937 | 23.23 | – |
| | New Democratic | Jack Grant | 1,692 | 2.19 | -6.80 |
| | National | Sheldon Bergson | 973 | 1.26 | – |
| | Natural Law | Stephen Porter | 469 | 0.61 | – |
| | Independent | Paul Wang | 458 | 0.59 | – |
| | Abolitionist | Dean Papadopoulos | 85 | 0.11 | – |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 77,218 | 99.30 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 545 | 0.70 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 77,763 | 70.25 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 110,696 |
| | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | +21.14 |
| Sources: Canadian Elections Database, Library of Parliament |||||||
vte1988 Canadian federal election: Markham :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bill Attewell | 36,673 | 53.10 |
| | Liberal | Jag Bhaduria | 21,973 | 31.81 |
| | New Democratic | Susan Krone | 6,209 | 8.99 |
| | No affiliation | John A. Gamble | 3,643 | 5.27 |
| | Libertarian | Ian Hutchison | 568 | 0.82 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 69,066 |
| Sources: Canadian Elections Database, Library of Parliament |||||||
vte1984 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bill Attewell | 29,706 | 54.4 | +11.4 |
| | Liberal | David Smith | 18,578 | 34.0 | -10.6 |
| | New Democratic | Joe Macdonald | 5,842 | 10.7 | -0.9 |
| | Libertarian | Robert Champlain | 356 | 0.7 | +0.1 |
| | Independent | Arthur V. Wright | 162 | 0.3 | +0.1 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 54,644 | 100.0 |