From “the Kid” on the Varsity Blues football team to “the Chief” at Osgoode Hall, R. Roy McMurtry has had a remarkably varied and influential career. As reformist attorney general of Ontario, one of the architects of the agreement that brought about the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, high commissioner to the United Kingdom, and chief justice of Ontario, he made a large and enduring contribution to Canadian law, politics, and life.

These memoirs cover all these facets of his remarkable career, as well as his law practice, his work on various commissions of inquiry, and his reflections on family, sport, and art. This volume is both an account of his life in public service and a portrait of a humane, humorous, still optimistic, and always decent man.

The Honourable Roy McMurtry, O.C., O.Ont., Q.C., practiced as a litigator in both the civil and criminal courts before being elected to the Ontario legislature in 1975. He served as the province’s Attorney General for a decade before becoming the Canadian High Commissioner in the United Kingdom. He later served as the chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and then as chief justice of Ontario from 1996 to 2007.

Roy McMurtry's profile page

‘Memoirs and Reflections is a reader’s delight… McMurtry’s style is strong, elegant, and balanced to match a public and private life that cannot fail to fascinate and impress.’

British Journal of Canadian Studies vol 28:01:2015

“A poignant reminder of a lost era when conservatives were ‘Progressive’ and a heart-warming account of a man whom history will no doubt record left Canada a better place than he found it.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

‘Memoirs and Reflections is a reader’s delight… McMurtry’s style is strong, elegant, and balanced to match a public and private life that cannot fail to fascinate and impress.’

Ekstam, British Journal of Canadian Studies, vol 28:01:2015

“Here is a book that should be mandatory reading for every first year law student in Canada, as it is not only filled with a valuable history lesson about our legal profession but it also establishes some benchmarks that young lawyers might set for themselves as they launch their careers.”

JUST Magazine

“McMurtry’s book provides a Red Tory elegy for the civility and moderation that have been twin victims of these toxic and partisan times.”

Toronto Star

‘Memoirs, adds another dimension to a set of remarkable first-hand impressions of critical moments in Canadian history (including the patriation of the constitution), and a perspective on the idealism that made numerous achievements possible.’

Ontario History, Autumn 2016