If you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements of remembrance of the late Ms. Phyllis Marion Boyd, with five minutes allotted to independent members as a group, five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government and five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s loyal Opposition.

We give thanks for the life and public service of Bill Murdoch.

Today, we are honoured to remember and pay tribute to a former member of our provincial legislature, the late Mrs. Marion Boyd, who was the MPP for London Centre during the 35th and 36th Parliaments.

Joining us in the Speaker’s gallery are Mrs. Boyd’s family and friends: her husband, Terry Boyd; her friend Joseph Addley; her siblings, Sheila Bauer, Marg Black and Dave Watt; her siblings-in-law Grant Black and Lin Watt; and her friends Nancy MacIndoe, Peg McArthur, Pat Schram, Kim Tessier and Dave Tessier.

Also in the Speaker’s gallery are David Warner, Speaker during the 35th Parliament; Steve Gilchrist, MPP for Scarborough East during the 36th and 37th Parliaments; and Marilyn Churley, who was the MPP for Riverdale in the 35th and 36th Parliaments and the member for Toronto–Danforth in the 37th and 38th Parliaments. Welcome.

I recognize the member for Don Valley West.

It’s an honour to rise today to pay tribute to Marion Boyd, who sadly passed away in October 2022 at the age of 76 and was MPP from London Centre from 1990 to 1999.

To describe Marion Boyd as anything less than a trailblazer would not be doing her justice. Born here in Toronto, Mrs. Boyd was a proud alumnus of Glendon College in my riding of Don Valley West, and it was at Glendon where she met her husband, Terry, as first-year students. Thank you, Terry and the rest of Marion’s family and friends, for being here today.

Mrs. Boyd was a proud feminist, organizer and believer in social justice, and it was those traits that resulted in her impressive and fruitful life. As an administrator at York University, she was successful in organizing the first union contract for faculty members. Afterwards she moved to London, where she served as the executive director of the London Battered Women’s Advocacy Clinic. In that role, and in many other projects, she fought tirelessly to support women facing abuse, a cause she would continue to fight for during and after her political career.

In 1990, she had a big win. She defeated sitting Premier David Peterson in a major upset and was immediately sworn into Premier Bob Rae’s cabinet where she would remain until the NDP government’s defeat in 1995. She was first appointed Minister of Education before serving as Minister of Community and Social Services, but of course she’s most well known for being the first woman to serve as Attorney General. For most of her time in cabinet, she also served concurrently as the minister responsible for women’s issues.

Her most famous moment, of course, was Bill 167, the Equality Rights Statute Amendment Act, which would have enshrined rights for same-sex couples similar to those of straight ones. While, regretfully, the Legislature voted against this proposed law, this bill was forward-thinking and one of the first of its kind in Ontario, in the country and in the whole world, and I commend Mrs. Boyd for taking the initiative to do what was right and stand up for the LGBTQ community even though this position was unpopular at the time. That kind of resolve is what inspires me and, I’m sure, many of us still sitting in the chamber today.

When the NDP government fell, Mrs. Boyd retained her seat and dutifully served as her party’s critic for justice and native issues until her loss following redistricting in 1999.

Today, we remember Marion Boyd for her tenacity, her spirit, her commitment to fighting for what is right, and I thank her friends and family for joining us here today to honour her and her illustrious life.

I rise today to honour the life and legacy of my friend and mentor Marion Boyd: Ontario’s first woman—and first non-lawyer—Attorney General; former Minister of Education, Minister of Community and Social Services and minister responsible for women’s issues; a bencher at the Law Society of Upper Canada; a licensed lay worship leader in the United Church; and a lifelong champion for social justice.

It’s always a privilege for MPPs to pay tribute to those who came before us, but it is a rare opportunity to be able to publicly thank and celebrate a former MPP who had such a profound influence on my own life and my standing before you today.

Like many Ontarians, I first learned of Marion Boyd on September 6, 1990, when she gained fame as the NDP “giant-killer” who defeated former Liberal Premier David Peterson in the riding of London Centre. Shortly afterwards, I came to Queen’s Park myself, as a staffer in the NDP government, where I was in awe of and definitely intimidated by Marion Boyd. She was so strong, so principled, so competent, so inspiring, so clear-eyed and unwavering in her vision and commitment to social justice.

To many of us—and, I’m sure, to the leader of the official opposition—Marion was already a feminist icon when she arrived in office because of her remarkable record of advocacy and achievement as executive director of the London Battered Women’s Advocacy Centre.

Irene Mathyssen, elected alongside Marion in London–Fanshawe in 1990, remembers Marion’s incredible courage, integrity and leadership in the London community. Marion was at the table when the London Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse was established, Ontario’s first VAW coordinating committee. Marion worked tirelessly with the London Police Service to make London the first community to implement mandatory charging, raising local, provincial and national awareness of domestic violence as a criminal offence. Marion was there to march in London’s first Pride parade. She helped organize London’s first Take Back the Night march.

Here at Queen’s Park, Marion continued to make a difference for women, children and marginalized communities in this province, especially in her role as Attorney General. In 1992, the Morgentaler Clinic was firebombed. Death threats were made against doctors, and women seeking abortions were intimidated and harassed. As Attorney General, Marion worked immediately and closely with her cabinet colleague and then-health minister Frances Lankin to initiate and implement a legal injunction for no-protest zones around abortion clinics and hospitals that protected women’s access to health care until provincial legislation was passed in 2017. This was, her family told me, one of her proudest accomplishments.

Recalling that experience and their time together as MPPs, Frances Lankin describes Marion as brave, strong and tough, someone whose positions on issues were always carefully considered and well thought out.

Of course, Marion will forever be remembered for her courage in bringing forward Bill 167, legislation that prohibited discrimination against same-sex couples. Although the bill failed in a free vote, Marion paved the way for recognition of equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community and was delighted to be vindicated five years later by the Supreme Court ruling. I was here for Marion’s leadoff speech on that bill, in which she brilliantly referenced the Canadian family known to the world as representing the best in family values: Matthew Cuthbert; his sister, Marilla; and their adopted child, Anne Shirley. In using the example of Anne of Green Gables, Marion spoke to the obligation of recognizing that families come in many different forms and all are equally deserving of support. I knew in that moment that Marion was more than a feminist icon; she was also a kindred spirit.

After the 1995 election, I moved into Marion’s riding and was excited to become involved in her NDP riding association. I came to know her warmth and her kindness, her generosity and compassion, her deep connections with the NDP volunteers who had helped her through six campaigns, from her first three runs for office to her electoral successes in 1990 and 1995 to her final campaign in 1999.

Marion had a smile that could light up a room, often with a twinkle in her eye and an infectious, impish grin.

Another of her cabinet colleagues, Marilyn Churley, said, “Marion was a saint among us, but a saint with a wicked sense of humour and a lovely, sparkling laugh.”

Marion was also deeply committed to supporting and encouraging other women to stand for elected office, and I was a direct beneficiary of that when deciding to run for the school board in 2000. She said, of course, I should, and took out her chequebook to write me my first campaign donation. Although she had moved out of London by 2013 when the by-election was called in London West, she was one of the first people I talked to about running. Her confidence and steadfast support were instrumental in my decision.

Marion’s passion for social justice was matched only by her deeply held faith and her love of family. Family meant everything to Marion: her loving husband, Terry; and dear friend and confidant, Joseph Dunlop-Addley; her cherished daughter, Tina, who sadly passed away in 2017; her parents, and especially her mother, Dorothy, who Marion shared an apartment with in Toronto while serving at Queen’s Park; her siblings, their spouses and their children; and her large close-knit extended family circle. I want to welcome all of Marion’s family members and friends who have joined us today, and especially my own long-time friends Terry and Joseph.

On behalf of this Legislature, I offer our deepest condolences for your loss and our profound gratitude for Marion’s distinguished life of public service which made life better for so many Ontarians.

Applause.