Keith Calder Norton (January 26, 1941 – January 31, 2010) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and public servant. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 1975 to 1985, and was until 2005 the chief commissioner of the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature throug ...

Background

Norton was educated at Queen's University in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, and worked as a lawyer after his graduation.

Politics

He was elected as an alderman in Kingston in 1972, and became the city's deputy

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in 1974. He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election, defeating Liberal candidate Ken Keyes by 203 votes in

Kingston and the Islands Kingston and the Islands could refer to: * Kingston and the Islands (federal electoral district) * Kingston and the Islands (provincial electoral district) {{Disambiguation ...

. He served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

supporter of

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...

's government for the next two years, and was re-elected with an increased majority in the 1977 election. Norton was appointed to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

on February 3, 1977, as Minister of Community and Social Services and held this portfolio throughout the parliament that followed. Re-elected without difficulty in the 1981 provincial election, he was appointed as

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

on April 10, 1981. As environment minister, he became the first Canadian politician to speak before a committee of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. Norton was transferred to the Ministry of Health on July 6, 1983, and held this position until Davis resigned as Premier in early 1985. He supported

Dennis Timbrell Dennis Roy Timbrell (born November 13, 1946) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1971 to 1987, and was a Cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank M ...

's unsuccessful bid to succeed Davis as Progressive Conservative Party leader in January 1985. When

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'', for which he created the character Elektra, and ...

succeeded Davis as

Premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario () is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincia ...

on February 8, 1985, he appointed Norton as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and Minister of Colleges and Universities. The Progressive Conservatives lost government following the 1985 provincial election, and Norton was personally defeated in the Kingston and the Islands riding, losing to Keyes by more than 2,000 votes.

Cabinet positions

Later life

After leaving politics in 1985, Norton became a businessman and consultant, working in the field of water purification. He attempted to return to politics in the 1990 election, running in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

against Liberal

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Ian Scott. Norton had

come out of the closet Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

by this point, and ran as an openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

politician in the riding of St. George—St. David, which includes Toronto's

Church and Wellesley Church and Wellesley is an gay village, LGBT-oriented enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded by Gerrard Street (Toronto), Gerrard Street to the south, Yonge Street to the west, Charles Street to the north, and Jarvis Street ...

neighbourhood, Canada's largest

gay village A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay vil ...

. While Scott was criticized for not being open about his sexuality, Norton was derided for opportunism, declaring himself openly gay only after he'd decided to run in a riding with a large gay population. Norton finished third, behind Scott and the NDP candidate.

Human rights commissioner

In 1992, Norton was appointed to the

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal () is an administrative tribunal established in 1977 through the '' Canadian Human Rights Act''. It is directly funded by the Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, fed ...

, and served as its president from 1992 until 1995. On July 18, 1996, Norton was appointed chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...

. From 1996 to 2004, he pushed for higher standards of protection for people with disabilities, and jump started the move to abolish mandatory retirement in Ontario. In late 2004, he argued that

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

was still a serious problem in Ontario. Norton has also been active in promoting

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

. Norton's third term as Chief Commissioner ended in November 2005. He was succeeded by former

Toronto Mayor The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

Barbara Hall.

Final years

After leaving the OHRC, Norton went to work as a mediator/arbitrator for a company that specializes in settling disputes between parties outside of court. Norton died on January 31, 2010, of cancer at the

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue (Toronto), ...

. A funeral was held on February 10, 2010 at the Trinity-St. Paul's United Church in Toronto.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Keith 1941 births 2010 deaths Canadian LGBTQ people in provincial and territorial legislatures Canadian gay politicians Kingston, Ontario city councillors LGBTQ conservatism Canadian LGBTQ rights activists Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Queen's University at Kingston alumni 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 21st-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors