Roy McMurtry

Roland Roy McMurtryOCOOntKC(May 31, 1932 – March 18, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician inOntario.He was aProgressive Conservativemember of theLegislative Assembly of Ontariofrom 1975 to 1985, serving in the cabinet ofBill DavisasAttorney Generaland asSolicitor General.After leaving politics, McMurtry wasHigh Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdombetween 1985 and 1988. He became a judge in 1991 and was appointedChief Justice of Ontarioin 1996. McMurtry retired from the bench in 2007 and returned to the private practice of law.

The Honourable Roy McMurtry OCOOntKC
Chief Justice of Ontario
In office 1996–2007
Preceded by	Charles Dubin
Succeeded by	Warren Winkler
Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office 1985–1988
Prime Minister	Brian Mulroney
Preceded by	Donald Jamieson
Succeeded by	Donald Stovel Macdonald
Attorney General of Ontario
In office 1975–1985
Premier	Bill Davis
Preceded by	John Clement
Succeeded by	Robert Welch
Ontario MPP
In office 1975–1985
Preceded by	Leonard Mackenzie Reilly
Succeeded by	David McFadden
Constituency	Eglinton
Personal details
Born	Roland Roy McMurtry (1932-05-31)May 31, 1932 Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Died	March 18, 2024(2024-03-18)(aged 91)
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse	Ria Jean Macrae
Children	6
Residence(s)	Toronto, Ontario
Education	Trinity College, Toronto(BA) Osgoode Hall Law School (LLB)
Occupation	Lawyer, jurist

Early life

Roland Roy McMurtry was born inTorontoas the son of lawyer Roy McMurtry. He was educated atSt. Andrew's Collegeand graduated in 1950. He received aBachelor of Artsdegree from theUniversity of Toronto(Trinity College) in 1954, and aBachelor of Lawsdegree fromOsgoode Hall Law Schoolin 1958. While attending university, he was admitted to theZeta Psifraternity and became a close friend of futurePremier of OntarioBill Davis,hisCanadian footballteammate.

While studying, he was hired to teach football atUpper Canada College.He also taught adult literacy classes atFrontier College,working through the day on construction projects and teaching at night. He was a trial lawyer for seventeen years before entering politics. He also wrote a weekly column in theToronto Sunduring the early 1970s.

Political career

In the 1960s, he worked withDalton CampandNorman Atkinsto removeJohn Diefenbakeras leader of theProgressive Conservative Party of Canada.

McMurtry suffered a back injury during the 1971Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership conventionand was able to exempt himself from choosing between Davis and rival candidateAllan Lawrence,whose campaign was managed by Atkins. Davis defeated Lawrence by 44 votes on the final ballot. A few weeks later, McMurtry organized a meeting which brought together the Davis and Lawrence leadership teams. The resulting alliance, known as theBig Blue Machine,dominated the Progressive Conservative Party into the 1980s.

Entering the legislature

Allan Lawrence resigned hisSt. Georgeconstituency in late 1972 to move to federal politics, and McMurtry was recruited by Davis as the Progressive Conservative candidate for a March 1973by-election.He was unexpectedly defeated byLiberal PartycandidateMargaret Campbell,a well-known municipal politician. He was first elected to theLegislative Assembly of Ontariotwo years later, in the1975 provincial election,defeating Liberal candidateFrank Judgein theEglintonconstituency.

Attorney General

McMurtry as Attorney General

Davis won aminority governmentin the 1975 election, and McMurtry was immediately appointed to cabinet asAttorney General.He held this position until 1985, and he also served asSolicitor Generalfrom 1978 to 1982.

McMurtry introduced a large number of law reform bills and was largely responsible for family law reform in Ontario. In 1978, he took the first steps to make Ontario's legal system bilingual and to start the process of translating Ontario's statutes into French. He was a major advocate for human rights and improved race relations.

McMurtry was also the provincial minister responsible for emergency planning. During the1979 Mississauga train derailment,he largely deferred to MayorHazel McCallion,who was the public face of the crisis handling.

Patriating the Constitution

McMurtry was aRed Tory,and he was one of Davis's closest advisers in government. As Attorney-General, he had been a primary negotiator for Ontario in theTrudeau-era constitutional negotiations. He appeared as counsel for Ontario in the Patriation Reference before the Supreme Court of Canada. In November 1981, he played a major role in brokering the deal that achievedpatriationof theCanadian Constitutionand the creation of theCharter of Rights and Freedoms.A late-night "kitchen accord" between McMurtry,Jean ChrétienandRoy Romanowon 6 November 1981 broke a deadlock in negotiations, and resulted in the governments of all provinces exceptQuebecagreeing to the proposed reforms to the Constitution, which came into law the following year.

Susan Nelles prosecution

One of McMurtry's lowest points was his role in the prosecution of nurseSusan Nelles,who was charged with the murder of a number of infants at theHospital for Sick Childrenin Toronto. The charges were dropped following a preliminary hearing and Nelles was exonerated by theGrange Commission,aroyal commissioncalled upon to examine the deaths. McMurtry was criticized for his Ministry's role in her wrongful prosecution. In a 2007 interview, McMurtry, looking back at the incident, said "I can remember that I had been away with my family on a school break, when I came back and saw the headlines, I brought in my deputy attorney-general, and said: 'What the hell is going on here? You've had a nurse arrested at one of the world's most famous hospitals?'" McMurtry said that local prosecutors failed to consult the ministry before consenting to the charges and that examining the case McMurtry had doubts that Nelles had exclusive access to all of the children.

Bathhouse raids

McMurtry was also Attorney-General at the time of the1981 Toronto bathhouse raidswhich were widely denounced as one of the most socially regressive acts in the province's history.At the time it was widely believed that the raids were approved by McMurtry. In a 2007 interview, however, McMurtry said that this was not the case. "The irony of the whole thing was that I had expressed my concern to the chief of police; that it really looked like we were dissolving into a police state. The whole thing looked terrible. Without a doubt, that was one of my most frustrating experiences," said McMurtry.

Leadership race

When Davis resigned as Progressive Conservative leader and premier in 1985, McMurtry sought the party's leadership at the party'sJanuary 1985 leadership convention.He started as the underdog in the campaign, but impressed many delegates through his performance in candidates' debates and polling data showing him as the preferred choice of Ontario voters. During the contest, McMurtry was sometimes criticized for remaining too long in one portfolio. While his opponents all had diverse ministerial experience, McMurtry's expertise was focused more narrowly on matters of the law. His supporters includedRobert Elgie,Frank Drea,Reuben BaetzandBob MacQuarrie.

McMurtry won a total of 300 votes on the first ballot, considerably more than had been expected. It was not sufficient, however, to place better than fourth in a field of four, afterFrank Miller,Dennis TimbrellandLarry Grossman.He was eliminated from the contest and gave his support to Grossman, a fellow Red Tory.

McMurtry's support was enough to move Grossman into second place on the second ballot, ahead of the more centrist Timbrell. Timbrell's delegates were divided on the last ballot, which allowed the conservative Miller to win the convention. Miller gave McMurtry the option of remaining as Attorney General in the new government, but he declined and announced his retirement from politics.

Diplomatic career

On February 4, 1985, CanadianExternal Affairs MinisterJoe Clarkannounced that McMurtry had been appointed to succeedDonald Jamiesonas Canada'sHigh Commissionerto theUnited Kingdom.He served in this capacity until 1988. Upon his return to Canada, he resumed his law practice and served from 1989 to 1990 as chairman and chief executive officer of theCanadian Football League.

Judicial career

McMurtry was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court (Trial Division) in Ontario in 1991, and he becameChief Justiceof that court in 1994. He becameChief Justice of Ontarioin 1996, heading the entire court system in the province and leading theCourt of Appeal for Ontario.That court gained a degree of public attention in 2003 when it ruled inHalpern v. Canada (Attorney General)that provisions of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedomsguaranteeing equality under the law required the Province of Ontario to issue marriage licences tosame-sex couples.For this,The Globe and Mailnamed McMurtry and his fellow judges the "Nation Builders of 2003."

In the weeks prior to his retirement in 2007, McMurtry was widely praised as being a unifying force and consensus-builder during his tenure as Chief Justice. "Under Chief Justice McMurtry's leadership, we pulled together and we worked hard, and the chief justice reached out to the bar and he sought their support, and he got it," said Court of Appeal (and futureSupreme CourtJudgeMichael Moldaverin a speech. "Thanks to his courage, leadership and vision, we now have an appeal process that is capable of delivering quality justice in a timely and efficient manner."

"I don't want to paint him as the Next Coming, but he has been a great uniter," said Clifford Lax, a veteran Toronto civil litigator. "He is a really very nice person who is able to find common ground. In a quiet, unassuming way, he has won a lot of converts to what he has done."

During his term, McMurtry also acted as theMayor of Toronto's race relations commissioner and helped create Pro Bono Ontario, which helps provide free legal services to the poor and encourages lawyers to providepro bonoservices.In 2000, he initiated the Public Legal Education Task Force, leading to the establishment of theOntario Justice Education Network.OJEN promotes understanding, education and dialogue to support a responsive and inclusive justice system.

McMurtry is credited with helping transform a backlogged and sometimes fractious court into a highly efficient, harmonious body.

Post-bench legal career

McMurtry returned to the practice of law after retiring from the bench. He was a member of the firmGowling Lafleur Henderson LLPuntil August 2014, when he moved to Hull & Hull LLP.McMurtry was a member of Pro Bono Law Ontario's Advisory Board.

As of 2019,McMurtry was president of the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, which made several oral histories and co-published two of his books:

• Memoirs and Reflections(Toronto: The Osgoode Society and the University of Toronto Press, 2013)
• Essays in the History of Canadian Law: Volume X – A Tribute to Peter Oliver(Toronto: The Osgoode Society and University of Toronto Press, 2008), 471 pp. (editor with Jim Phillips andJohn T. Saywell)

Personal life

McMurtry was married to Ria Jean Macrae, with whom he had six children and 12 grandchildren. His eldest son, Jim McMurtry, ran as aLiberalinBritish Columbiain the2006 federal election,placing second toConservativeRuss Hiebert.

McMurtry was a landscape painter, originally taught byA.J. Casson,and donated pieces to charity auctions.

ARed Tory,McMurtry expressed dislike towards theStephen Harpergovernment from 2006 to 2015, claiming it suffered from a lack of compassion, as well as for causing more division in Canadian politics.McMurtry supportedEric Hoskinsin the2013 Ontario Liberal Party leadership electionandPeter Elgie,Green Party of Canadacandidate for theYork-Simcoeriding in the2014 Ontario general electionand son ofRobert Elgie,a Red ToryProgressive Conservativewho served asMinister of Labourfrom 1978 to 1982 and MPP forYork Eastfrom 1977 to 1985.

McMurtry died on March 18, 2024, at the age of 91.

Honours

In 2007, McMurtry was awarded theOrder of Ontario.In 2009, he was made an Officer of theOrder of Canada"for his distinguished career of public service, notably as chief justice of Ontario, and for his extensive volunteer involvement in many social and multicultural initiatives".

In 2013, McMurtry was given theG. Arthur Martinmedal for outstanding contributions to criminal justice.He served as the 12thChancellorofYork Universityfrom 2008 to 2014.

The headquarters of theAttorney General of Ontario,the "McMurtry-Scott Building", is named in honour of McMurtry andIan Scott(Attorney General from 1985 to 1990).

External links

• The Hon. Roy McMurtry– Hull & Hull LLP
• McMurtry Art Exhibit– online exhibition of McMurtry's paintings
• Roy McMurtry - 25 Years of the Charter of Rights– video of 2007 interview onThe Agenda with Steve Paikin
• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history