Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
McMurtry was a lawyer for 17 years and was elected to the Ontario legislature in 1975. Under Premier Bill Davis, he served as the province’s attorney general until 1985.
In this capacity, McMurtry oversaw reforms to Ontario’s justice system, including integrating bilingualism in court, introducing bills aimed at family law reform and advocating for multiculturalism.
He also played a part in the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution.
From 1985 to 1988, he held the post of Canada’s high commissioner to Great Britain before he was appointed as associate chief justice of the Superior Court in Ontario in 1991. In 1994, he became chief justice of that court.
McMurtry was named chief justice of Ontario in 1996, a position he held until 2007.
He was 91.
