In Memoriam: Keith Calder Norton, Q.C., BA ‘61, LLB ‘69

Keith Calder Norton, 1941-2010

While it was in Toronto that Keith Norton, Q.C., BA ‘61, LLB ‘69, died of cancer at 69 on January 31, the most important city in his life was Kingston, Ontario. It was there that his career as public servant and champion of human rights began. And a key part of his Kingston life was Queen's University.

“Keith had a distinguished career as a politician and public servant,” says Dean Bill Flanagan, “and he was a tremendously loyal graduate of this law school.”

For 12 years in the 1970s and ‘80s, he was an alumni-elected member of Queen’s University Council, a body including both Senate and Trustees. In 2005 he began another six-year term, serving on the Intergroup Dialogue Program review panel and sharing his expertise on a 2007 review of Queen's Harassment/Discrimination Complaint Policy and Procedure.

“He was a life-long friend and supporter of the University,” adds George Thomson, Law '65, LLD ‘07, former head of the National Judicial Institute. “He was a very strong advocate, very much involved in the issues that Queen’s cared about and needed to have addressed at the provincial level.”

The Claremont, Ontario native came to Queen’s to study in 1957, already socially conscious and interested in current affairs. Aptitude and education combined to propel him into the public arena. Following his call to the bar in 1971, Norton chose Kingston to begin his legal career in family law (Woods, Hogan & Norton), concurrently serving as Director of Queen’s Legal Aid for two years. Soon his law career segued into a new one in politics. Norton began at the City Council level in 1972, winning election as an alderman for Sydenham Ward, home to Queen’s and many of its students. That first step and his subsequent climb to the heights of provincial politics were made easier by a presence and personality that attracted helpful people to him.

“He was almost like a Kennedy,” remembers Ross Drummond, Law ‘79. Now a Kingston crown attorney, he was one of Norton’s closest friends and at various times his landlord, employer, adviser and tenant.

“Politics is infectious, and Keith got the bug,” Drummond says. “He’d always had a social conscience and enjoyed public debate. After a short stint in municipal politics, it just was the right time to enter the provincial fray. In politics, timing is everything.”    

Kingston in the 1970s was a political hotbed. Trudeaumania was a federal phenomenon, but provincially Bill Davis and the Tories had swept to victory. In 10 years there were an incredible seven elections, with Queen’s Progressive Conservative Club virtually orchestrating Kingston party nominations.

Norton had entered politics to serve his community, sincerely -- but tentatively, too. As his former campaign manager, Professor Emeritus Stanley ‘Sonny’ Sadinsky, Q.C., Arts ‘60, Law ‘63, says, “He ran for office in large part to see if politics was for him.”

Indeed, it was. Queen’s PC Club agreed, approaching Norton about being a Kingston candidate in the 1975 provincial election.

He said yes, succeeding the Hon. Syl Apps, a popular Queen’s Park veteran who was retiring. The young up-and-comer had a big challenge, but he was a tireless pavement-pounder, at his best going door to door and talking to voters. They gave him the seat.

The rookie MPP and rookie MP Flora MacDonald, LLD ’81, became mutually supportive friends and campaigners despite their different styles, Drummond says. “When the outgoing Flora arrived someplace, everyone knew it. The quieter Keith blended into the crowd, working the room one-on-one.”

At Queen’s Park, his ability and adaptability won him respect and major success, including three important ministries: Community and Social Services (1977), Environment (1981) and Health (1983). He was careful to keep a fine balance between Cabinet duties and the needs of his constituents.

Former faculty member Susan Miklas, Law ’88, was a key part of this balance, working  in his Kingston office, ever-resourceful in coping with whatever issues constituents brought in. “Many who came to us had nowhere else to turn – often at their wits’ end, with little in the way of money or knowledge of the system,” she says.  Keith’s support showed “an honourable and caring man.”

For Ontario, as for Queen’s Legal Aid and City Council, he was dedicated to making a difference. The ministries he headed were not the same after his tenure; they were better.

“We were flying up to Ottawa during one campaign for a CTV interview,” Sadinsky recalls. “Looking out the window at the farms below, Keith said how much he loved this province and its way of life. He relished our democratic system and being a part of it.”

After a government change in 1985, most of Norton’s time was spent on business (water purification) in Toronto and Ottawa. He kept his Collingwood St. house for several years, coming to Kingston mostly for speaking engagements and University Council meetings, but friends agree his affection for the Limestone City never faded.

In 1990 public service beckoned again. His attempt to re-enter politics as an openly gay candidate was unsuccessful, but groundbreaking. In 1992 he was appointed president of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and in 1996 was named chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. What ensued was a ground-breaking 10-year fight against discrimination affecting disabled, gay and elderly Ontarians.

“Keith made important contributions to the advancement of human rights at both federal and provincial levels," says Professor Emeritus Don Carter, Law ‘66.

Norton continued his work on human rights issues as a consultant with The Norton Group and most recently as a mediator and arbitrator with the ADR Chambers.  

And all his work came from the heart, says Drummond, recalling an instance when a man came into Keith’s constituency office seeking help -- no money, no food and nowhere else to turn. “At that late hour there were no agencies open to assist. Keith didn’t think twice. He took this man to a store and bought him enough groceries to get through. That’s the Keith Norton I mourn and will miss.”