Roy McMurtry: A purposeful life lived with courtesy, humanity, and generosity

Roy McMurtry has died at age 91, and his extraordinary career has been recalled in obituary and news notices in the media. His accomplishments as a political leader, diplomat, jurist, and community leader are duly praised. As importantly, his public demeanour, and his devotion to the public good have illuminated what is possible and good in a public life.

Maytree has worked with Roy in recent years on bail and remand issues, and the general issue of youth in the criminal justice system. Roy was the author, along with Alvin Curling, of the landmark 2008 study The Review of the Roots of Youth Violence, which was commissioned by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty following the so-called “summer of the gun” in 2005, an outbreak of violence in Toronto. The Premier noted that “we cannot arrest our way out” of the problem, and wanted a comprehensive analysis; McMurtry and Curling produced it. A good part of that commentary focused on the systemic issues that youth, and particularly racialized youth, come up against throughout the criminal justice system, from police to courts to jails.

When Maytree began to look into the issue, we were guided at the beginning by longtime friend and colleague Rick Gosling of the Children’s Breakfast Clubs. Rick had a long-standing relationship with Roy McMurtry, and introduced us to him as we pursued this work. Roy was enthusiastic and engaged, and brought along with him the estimable Doug Ewart who, as Roy said, had “held the pen” on The Review of the Roots of Youth Violence report. The two of them were remarkably informed and helped guide us, and were important participants in meetings with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and various deputy ministers.

It was obvious to us that Roy was held in high esteem by everyone. He treated people well but held and communicated strong conviction. His perception of the issues was clear, and his sense of strategy and tactics was both wise and acute. He made us work harder, think better, and act generously.

Roy was also active with Rick Gosling. He was the founding patron of Rick’s Second Chance Scholarship Foundation, which supports education of youth in detention and after their release. Roy’s active presence brought the support of lawyers and judges. But he also focused on many of the kids who received scholarships, as well as children in the Breakfast Clubs. For some of them, he was a life-long mentor, including one of his successors as Chief Justice of Ontario, Michael Tulloch.

Maytree’s work is centred in human rights and poverty, the Canadian backbone of which is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. During the 1981 federal-provincial discussions about patriating the Canadian constitution and installing a charter of rights, Roy was instrumental in framing the political arrangement. As Ontario’s Attorney General, he and Saskatchewan Attorney General Roy Romanow negotiated with federal Justice Minister Jean Chretien to frame a proposition that the provincial premiers could approve. Without that, working on human rights in Canada would be much more difficult.

We are grateful for the opportunity to have known and worked with Roy McMurtry. He was an example of a purposeful life lived with courtesy, humanity, and generosity.