Former Ontario Attorney General of Ontario and Chief Justices of Ontario Roy McMurtry has passed away at the age of 91. He also served as High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom.

He was born in Toronto on May 31st, 1932 to Roy McMurtry Sr. In 1954, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto (Trinity College) and in 1958 a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Mr. McMurtry would practise law for a number of years before being elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1975 for the riding of Eglinton (he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in 1973.)

In 1971, Bill Davis defeated Allan Lawrence to become the Leader of the Progressive Conservatives of Ontario and Premier of Ontario in a hotly contested elected (Davis won by 44 votes.) It was Mr. McMurtry who helped to bring the two sides back together for the good of the party and launch the ‘Big Blue Machine‘ that helped to keep the party in power until 1987.

Upon his election to the Ontario Legislature, he became the Attorney Geeneral in Bill Davis’ Government and would remain in the position until 1985 He was also the Solicitor General from 1978 to 1982. He retired from politics in early 1985 after Bill Davis’ retirememnt and Frank Miller‘s election as party leader (and Premier.) He was a life long ‘Red Tory’ Conservative.

Shortly thereafter, he was appointed as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, serving from 1985 to 1988.

In 1991, he was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court (Trial Division) in Ontario and then appointed as Chief Justice in 1996. He served as Chief Justice until 2007.

As Chief Justice, he played a role in the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Later in life he was critical of the Federal Government of Stephen Harper claiming that the Government had made politics more divisive and was not compassionate enough. He would also support Eric Hoskins during the 2013 Ontario Liberal Party Leadership Convention and Green Party candidate Peter Elgie (York-Simcoe) during the 2014 Ontario General Election.

During his time in Government he was a member of the “kitchen accord” which helped to get the Canadian Constitution repatriated in 1982.

Mr. McMurtry was married to Ria Jean Macrae, and together they had six children and 12 grandchildren. He received the Order of Ontario in 2007 and in 2009 was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He also served as Chancellor of York University from 2008 to 2014.

Mr. McMurtry passed away March 19th, 2023 at the age of 91.

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