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McMURTRY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-05-27 published
OLIVER, Peter -- Dispatch:
By Bert ARCHER, Page M4
'He would just eat books," said Peter OLIVER's daughter, Anne HODGSON. "He was always reading, reading, reading."
And as a professor of legal history at York University and editor-in-chief of the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, as well as associate editor of the Ontario Historical Studies series of publications, Mr. OLIVER had plenty of opportunity to indulge his passion while exercising a major influence on the course of legal historical studies in Canada.
"My father worked very hard," said his son, Kevin OLIVER, who remembers him always being available to his three kids (including another son, Tony), no matter how busy he was, "yet he did not see it as work."
Though he retired from teaching last spring and had recently moved to Stratford with his partner, Sandra WEBSTER, Mr. OLIVER had planned to continue his work at Osgoode and retire at the same time as his friend, Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMURTRY, in a couple of years.
Mr. OLIVER was the author of five books, and at the time of his death from esophageal cancer on May 14 at the age of 66, was working on his sixth, a history of the Conservative Party in Ontario. "He was a Liberal federally, but a Conservative provincially and for some reason, he just always wrote about the Conservative Party," Ms. HODGSON said. His other books include an edition of the diaries of Allan GROSSMAN, Ontario's first Jewish Conservative cabinet minister.
A memorial service will be held at Osgoode Hall at 5: 30 p.m. on June 8, featuring tributes from Chief Justice McMURTRY and historian Ramsay COOK. A book of essays in his honour, planned since his retirement, is also in the works.

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McMURTRY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-10-09 published
ROLSTON, Helga Gisela (née SCHMID)
Peacefully in her 72nd year on October 7, 2006. Remembered with love by her family, relatives and Friends including sister Gerda (Heilbronn, Germany,) daughters Susannah (and husband David DOYLE) and Christina (and her partner Jamie MORPHY,) as well as her cherished grand_son Rory. Remembered with great affection by her long-time partner Jack McMURTRY. Also mourned by George ROLSTON. Many thanks to the staff at Gibson Long Term Care for ensuring her comfort, and most especially to Heather SHAW for her kindness and care. In accordance with Helga's wishes, cremation has taken place. Friends and family are invited to remember Helga's life at a memorial service to be held in the coming weeks.

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McMURTRY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-10-11 published
Ian SCOTT, Lawyer And Politician: (1934-2006)
An Ontario politician with the air of a statesman, he was the social conscience of David Peterson's Liberal cabinet, writes Sandra MARTIN. In 1994, he suffered a devastating stroke that left him paralyzed but unbowed
By Sandra MARTIN with files by the late Donn DOWNEY, Page S9
Lawyer, civil-rights advocate and politician, Ian SCOTT had a silver tongue, a prodigious brain and an encompassing empathy. He also faced enormous hardships: His partner died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and, six months later, he suffered a devastating stroke that robbed him of mobility and his ability to speak. He refused to accept his infirmity and spent the next dozen years retraining his wayward speaking skills with the same determination that he had exerted pleading cases before the court or arguing public policy around the cabinet table or in the Ontario Legislature.
"He was one of the most eloquent speakers, and that was what made the stroke such a cruel twist of fate," said his old friend, Roy McMURTRY, Chief Justice of Ontario. "But he never gave up and he was an inspiration to all of us."
On the public front, he will be remembered as the Ontario attorney-general who, next to the premier himself, put the Liberal stamp on David PETERSON's government between 1985 and 1990, the years when the party spectacularly won, then lost, the reins of power in Ontario. At the time, it was difficult to find an important provincial initiative that did not carry the odour of Mr. SCOTT's all-too frequent cigarettes.
Ian SCOTT was the social conscience of the Liberal cabinet and emerged immediately as a cabinet leader when the Liberals took office with a minority government in 1985. Long before his election as a Liberal, he had had ties with the New Democratic Party, and he combined this with his powers of persuasion to negotiate a deal with the New Democrats that formally ended 43 years of Tory rule in Ontario.
Mr. SCOTT, Mr. PETERSON, Robert Nixon (treasurer) and Sean Conway (education minister) became known as the four horsemen of what started out to be a reform government. He spearheaded the attack on doctors to end extra billing and was the government's counsel against the free-trade agreement. After a period of soul searching, he came out in favour of the Meech Lake constitutional deal, although he was among the first to warn of its weaknesses.
"He was a colossus of provincial politics," said Mr. PETERSON. "He had an intellectual cachet and wit, an advocacy that was second to none, a capacity for very hard work, and he was cunning. He knew how to get what he wanted."
Mr. SCOTT was a superb counsel, one of the best of his generation, said Judge McMURTRY. "He had a marvellous career as a lawyer and contributed greatly politically." Commenting on Mr. SCOTT's accomplishments as attorney- general, Mr. McMURTRY mentioned the merger of county, district and high courts, the process for appointing provincial court judges and his respect for individual and human rights.
During his tenure as attorney-general, Mr. SCOTT "utterly transformed Ontario's justice system, and played an indispensable role in constitutional talks, and otherwise, in the life of his government," current Attorney-General Michael Bryant said in a statement yesterday. "He introduced Ontario's first Freedom of Information Act, brought in North America's first pay equity legislation and created an independent panel to recommend judicial appointments to ensure only the most qualified candidates were appointed to the bench. Mr. SCOTT also amended the Ontario Human Rights Code to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation."
George Smitherman, Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, had a more personal observation. "I loved Ian SCOTT. As a politically active gay man coming out in the mid-'80s, he was an inspiration to me. I'll miss being his member of provincial parliament, and I am resigned to never quite filling his shoes. I have lost a friend and it makes me profoundly sad."
Ian Gilmour SCOTT came from a distinguished Irish Catholic family of lawyers and politicians, including Sir Richard SCOTT, a proponent of separate school legislation, a speaker of the Legislative Assembly in Ontario and a cabinet minister in the governments of Edward Blake and Alexander Mackenzie and an influential senator during the Manitoba school debate in the 1890s. The eldest of six children of Ottawa lawyer Cuthbert SCOTT and his wife, Audrey (née GILMOUR,) Mr. SCOTT was born in the middle of the Depression. He went to Holy Cross convent, then Ashbury College.
His younger sister, Martha SCOTT, a fundraising consultant for the private sector, says he always knew he was gay. He never came out to his parents, but she says they probably suspected his sexual orientation. "They adored him, unreservedly," she said yesterday. Nevertheless, Mr. SCOTT admitted in a 1997 interview with Steve Paikin on TVOntario that his homosexuality had forced him to "compartmentalize" his personal and professional lives.
A gifted student, Mr. SCOTT entered Saint Michael's College at the University of Toronto at 17 and graduated with an honours degree in 1955. It was at university, probably in 1951, that he met Roy McMURTRY. "We spent the summer of 1955 working in Quebec City and living with two francophone families, hoping to master the French language," Judge McMURTRY recalled yesterday. "I don't know if either of us achieved our goal, but I think we developed a sensitivity and respect for the cultural and linguistic aspirations of our Québécois Friends, which influenced our future political careers." (In 1975, Roy McMURTRY, as attorney-general, committed Ontario to a bilingual court system; a decade later, Mr. SCOTT "tied up the loose ends" to complete the process.)
Mr. SCOTT graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1959, then articled with William HOWLAND, who was later appointed chief justice of Ontario. A labour lawyer, he formed his own law firm, Cameron, Brewin and Scott, in Toronto and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1973. He also taught law at Queen's University (where he earned a masters of law degree), McGill University, the Law Society of Upper Canada and the U of T.
Bob Rae, who followed Mr. PETERSON as premier of Ontario, was Mr. SCOTT's student in a public-sector labour-relations course at the University of Toronto in 1976. "He was funny and engaging as a teacher," Mr. Rae said. "Then I knew him a little bit as a colleague, because we were both labour lawyers and he supported me financially when I ran federally in 1978."
Despite not being with a long-established Bay Street firm, Mr. SCOTT assembled an impressive list of clients, including the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. He was also the counsel for several high-profile public inquiries, acting for the Hospital for Sick Children during the Grange inquiry and counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into Certain Disturbances at Kingston Penitentiary, the Attorney-General's Task Force on Legal Aid and the royal commission into development of the Mackenzie Valley.
In 1981, he ran for the provincial Liberals against Margaret Scrivener in the riding of St. David, losing by just over 1,000 votes. He ran again in 1985 in a marquee contest against Julian Porter, a libel lawyer, chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission and scion of a prominent legal and political family in Ontario. This time, Mr. SCOTT won, the first Liberal to be elected in St. David in almost 50 years.
Mr. PETERSON, who had won the election with only 37.9 per cent of the vote, forged an alliance with Mr. Rae's New Democrats (which had received 23.8 per cent) to form what was called the Accord government. Mr. SCOTT served as attorney-general (succeeding Roy McMURTRY, who had held the post from 1975 to 1985 during William Davis's tenure as Conservative premier) until the Liberals were defeated by the New Democratic Party in 1990.
"He had consummate confidence in his own skills and abilities to persuade people to do what he wanted them to do, only because he was one of the greatest lawyers in the country," said Mr. PETERSON. "He could talk you into anything." He also liked the tension of public life, according to Mr. PETERSON, and he was steeped in a tradition of public service.
"To run a government," Mr. PETERSON said, "you need three guys a premier, a treasurer and an attorney-general." Mr. SCOTT, he said, "had an awful lot of influence" because of "his ability to speak, his advocacy, his passion, his Friendship with me." He "had his nose into every corner of that government because he was passionately interested in the policy issues and he was up to speed and he made contributions. He was a key guy at the cabinet table. People didn't trifle with him."
Sunday shopping, freedom of information, welfare changes and auto insurance all passed before Mr. SCOTT's tortoise-shell bifocals. Many New Democratic Party reforms, including changes to the court system, family law, native government and employment equity, were initiated under Mr. SCOTT's tenure as attorney-general. His portfolio also included responsibility for native affairs and women's issues, but he kept abreast of laws being drafted in all ministries, arguing that the province's chief law officer had to know the legal ramifications of any particular piece of legislation. One of his roles was to argue successfully before the Supreme Court in favour of protecting separate schools, in much the same way that his ancestor, Sir Richard, had done in the 19th century.
"He was a wonderful colleague, he was interested in everything, he was into everything," said Mr. Conway, a former cabinet colleague. "He was an outstanding attorney-general because he was an outstanding lawyer. He had a unique combination of sparkling intelligence and a wonderful curiosity."
Mr. SCOTT held on to his seat in the 1990 provincial election, but he didn't relish the opposition benches. He resigned in September of 1992 and returned to practising law at Gowling, Strathy and Henderson. Martha, his sister, said "he went into politics with an agenda, including law reform, and when he had accomplished that, he got out."
A confirmed smoker who had tried to kick the habit many times, he finally succeeded by wearing a nicotine patch. His partner, Kim YAKABUSKI, died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in 1993. In 1994, Mr. SCOTT suffered a devastating stroke that left him paralyzed on his right side and suffering from severe aphasia. The medical experts thought he would end up in an institution, but "he wasn't interested in that life," said his sister.
He insisted on going home, persuaded his cleaning woman to come every day to get him dressed, and worked doggedly with speech therapist Bonnie BERESKIN, who not only taught him how to speak again but trained a key group of his legal colleagues and cronies (including Stephen Goudge, Ian Rolland and Chris Paliare) to work with him every day on his speaking skills. He recovered about 20 per cent of his speech and expanded his communication skills to include facial expressions, hisses, nods and telling looks.
"Here was a guy who had absolutely everything -- school was a snap and work was a snap," said Martha SCOTT. " You don't really imagine a person who has everything would have the resilience to deal with that kind off bad luck." Her brother, she said, was determined to reclaim as much of his life as possible. "I worked my ass off," he once said about his post-stroke recovery in a sentence remarkable for its length and its passion.
"Our Friendship grew after his stroke," Mr. Rae said. "He had a lot of guts and determination and he lived his live with panache right to the end. The greatest affliction that you can imagine for an advocate and an orator like Ian is losing the capacity of speech, but even then he had a way of communicating that was totally disarming. Occasionally, he would only be able to say yes or no, but he could take in everything and he used his eyebrows and his sense of humour [to communicate]."
Mr. SCOTT collaborated with Neil McCORMICK on a memoir, To Make A Difference, in 2001. He continued to have lunch with Friends in restaurants, using a scooter to get about town, and to attend the symphony. But, in the past couple of years, his health problems increased and he finally decided to let nature take its inevitable course.
Ian Gilmour SCOTT was born in Ottawa on July 13, 1934. He died in his sleep in Toronto yesterday after refusing treatment for a variety of illnesses, including cancer. He was 72. Predeceased by his partner, Kim YAKABUSKI, he leaves his five siblings and their families. The funeral will be held at Saint Michael's Cathedral in Toronto at 10: 30 a.m. on Friday.

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McMURTRY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-11-10 published
McMURTRY, D. Elizebeth
Peacefully on November 8th, 2006 in her 94th year. Predeceased by husband R. Roy McMURTRY. Cherished mother of Roy (Ria,) William (Carolyn), John (Jennifer) and Bob (Jane). Much loved "Gamère" of Janet (Ross) Jim (Laurie), Harry (Julie), Jeannie (Patti), Erin, Michael (Chris), Tom (Bernie), Tara, Tearney (Eric), John Justin (Lisa), Matthew (Raven), Elana, Angus (Neeta), Abbey (Nick), Sean and Meghan. She will also be sadly missed by her 22 great-grandchildren and by her beloved sister Genevieve WILLIAMSON. Friends may call at the Morley Bedford Funeral Home, 159 Eglinton Avenue West (2 lights west of Yonge St.) on Friday, November 10, 4-7 p.m. Service to be held in Saint Margaret's Anglican Church, 53 Burnaby Blvd. (1 block north of Eglinton Ave. W., off Avenue Rd.) on Saturday November 11 at 3 p.m. Reception following service in the church. Interment Cataraqui Cemetery, Kingston. Flowers gratefully declined. If desired, a memorial donation may be made to the charity of choice.

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