Honourable senators, I rise today to join my colleagues Senator Boniface and Senator Cotter in paying tribute to the late Roy McMurtry. In so doing, I hope to add another layer to our collective memory of this great leader and ally. As you already know, Roy McMurtry served as the Attorney General of Ontario, Chief Justice of Ontario and Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

My home community of Cornwall knows the name Roy McMurtry because our legal clinic is named after him. Cornwall’s legal clinic was one of the first to open in this province, and in 2015 it was renamed in his honour. My career started at the Clinique juridique Roy McMurtry Legal Clinic where I eventually served as executive director. Much to the chagrin of the staff managing my calendar, I still spend non‑sitting weeks serving clients of the clinic.

Legal clinics and the concept of providing access to justice for those most vulnerable in our society were also dear to McMurtry, and his spirit continues to inspire a devotion to that cause.

As a political figure, Roy McMurtry chose a path of kindness and consideration. As a diplomat, he represented the country he helped make a better place, honourably and with distinction. As a judicial officer, he conferred the dignity of marriage upon those to whom it had previously been denied.

This is what he told TVO about legalizing gay marriage:

I knew the sky would not fall. I knew that people would, within a very short time, generally accept it as just an evolution of our society.

We have much to learn from his brave approach to public life and a great deal for which to be grateful.

I am most grateful for the example he provided as an ally.

He was an outstanding advocate. When he worked on the reform of the Ontario justice system, an unpopular process, he consulted with Franco-Ontarians and let them lead the way.

The end result was a court system where francophones were no longer required to leave their language at the doorstep as they sought justice.

As a lawyer, Ontarian and francophone, I’m inspired by McMurtry’s example. As a Black Canadian, I have been in need of allies my whole life, and I am moved by his allyship and leadership. As a senator, I am hopeful I can emulate his progressive spirit.

McMurtry writes in his 2013 autobiography that he was inspired by the words attributed to the poet Emerson. Indeed, I hope we will all be moved by them:

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Thank you. Nia:wen.