I wish to thank the family members and the numerous friends and distinguished guests who have joined us today as we remember Mr. David Caplan. I apologize if I mispronounced his name before. Thank you for being here, and enjoy the rest of your day.

Today we are honoured to remember and pay tribute to a former member of our provincial Legislature, the late Ms. Marietta L.D. Roberts, who was the MPP for Elgin during the 34th Parliament.

Joining us in the Speaker’s gallery are Ms. Roberts’s family and friends: her nieces, Emily Glover, Elena Roberts and Laurie Little; her nephews-in-law, Mike Harder, Adam Glover and Scott Jesney; her great-nieces and -nephews, Hayden Harder, Victoria Jesney and Matthew Jesney; and her family friend Darcelle Hall. Also in the Speaker’s gallery is Lauren Scully, representing Marietta’s friends and colleagues at the Ontario Court of Justice, the Office of the Chief Justice and the justice of the peace bench. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

The member for Elgin–Middlesex–London.

Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance of the late Ms. Marietta L.D. Roberts, with five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government, five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s loyal opposition and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group.

It’s an honour to rise today on behalf of the official opposition to pay tribute to Marietta Roberts, a trailblazer with a very big heart.

I want to begin by welcoming her family and friends to the Legislature: her nieces and nephews, Emily Glover, Elena Roberts, Laurie Little, Adam Glover, Mike Harder and Scott Jesney; her great nieces and nephews Hayden Harder, Matthew Jesney and Victoria Jesney; her friend Darcelle Hall; and Lauren Scully, representing the Ontario Court of Justice, the Office of the Chief Justice, and the justice of the peace bench.

I’d also like to acknowledge the family and friends who are watching us from St. Thomas today.

Family and friends were very important to Marietta. She loved spending time with you, so thank you for all the time that you sacrificed with your loved one while Marietta was engaged in the long and honourable career of public service.

Marietta Roberts was born and raised on a family farm in Yarmouth township, Elgin county, but while she helped out on the family farm as a child, there was a different path ahead for Marietta. She attended the University of Western Ontario and the Ontario teachers’ college, teaching at Alma College for three years before turning her attention to law and politics in 1971.

It’s easy now to forget just how unusual these career choices were in 1971 and just how different things were for women in this field.

In 1971, fewer than 10 women had ever been elected to the Ontario Legislature. The first female cabinet minister wouldn’t be named until 1972, and in 1972, only 5% of all lawyers practising in Ontario were women. Forty per cent of Toronto law firms that year freely admitted they were prejudiced towards women applying for articling positions.

But Marietta didn’t just enter a difficult field for women; she blazed trails everywhere she turned, serving as the acting crown attorney for Elgin county, as one of the founding members of the Ontario child representation office and as chair of the Elgin County Board of Education.

She ran in two elections: the federal election of 1974 and the provincial election of 1975. Two defeats didn’t hold Marietta back. She went on to make history as the first woman ever elected to represent Elgin county in the Ontario Legislature, defeating the dean of the Legislature in 1987.

Marietta didn’t stop there either. She became the first-ever woman elected to be the Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House in Ontario. She was also chair of the Liberal caucus. In her parliamentary work she was recognized by former Premier David Peterson as “wonderful at everything.” She was magnetic. She had the biggest heart and huge energy that just enveloped everybody. You just wanted to love her because she exuded so much love.

When the 1990 election brought electoral defeat, Marietta was once more undeterred in her pursuit of public service. She was named a judge in 1991. Once again, Speaker, it’s hard for us to remember what it was like, but Ontario had only had around 30 women appointed as provincial judges by 1990. Once again, Marietta excelled in the role, bringing her big heart and compassion to the halls of justice. Andy Rady, president of the London Criminal Lawyers’ Association noted that “she was enormously fair and she really cared about the people in front of her.” Her leadership skills also came to the fore once again as Marietta served as Associate Chief Justice and coordinator of justices of the peace.

But let me conclude by sharing a little known bit of Marietta Roberts’s history, Speaker. During her term in office as an MPP, she presented an award to a little girl who was growing up on a family farm in Elgin county. That little girl had never met a politician before, but thanks to Marietta Roberts, she grew up thinking of women in politics and public service as normal. And 33 years later, that little girl went on to get elected, and here I stand, because of the work of Marietta Roberts and the trail-blazing women like her who came before me.

Thank you, Marietta, for blazing those trails, for a lifetime of dedicated public service, for putting your energy and intellect and big heart into the service of your community and your province. May we who come behind you live up to your example.

It’s certainly an honour to speak on behalf of the Ontario Liberal caucus to pay tribute to Ms. Marietta Roberts this evening, the former Liberal MPP for Elgin and former Ontario court justice appointee.

Ms. Roberts was born in Yarmouth township, near Sparta, on January 9, 1943. She was raised on the Roberts family farm. She later received a BA from Western, a teaching certificate from the Ontario College of Education and a law degree from Dalhousie University. Ms. Roberts started her career as a teacher at Alma College, but steered by her Elgin county roots, she was able to use her intellect and innate kindness to effect change throughout her community and right across Ontario. Following her time as a teacher, she practised law in Elgin county with the firm of Gloin, Hall and Associates, including a stint as acting county crown attorney and as a founding member of the Ontario Child Representation Program.

Now, she lost her first two elections, one with the federal Liberals and one with Ontario Liberals, but she didn’t give up. She chose to run again in 1987. Her election victory in 1987 was monumental as residents of Elgin county put faith in Ms. Roberts, electing her to victory and washing away nearly 42 years of Tory blue in the riding of Elgin. More impressively, though, her victory also made her the first woman ever elected to Queen’s Park for the riding of Elgin.

Throughout her time at Queen’s Park, she served fiercely in Premier David Peterson’s government, serving as caucus chair and later as deputy government whip. She brought compassion to the halls of Queen’s Park, a trait that’s too often overlooked in this place and in this profession, Madam Speaker. I think that former Premier David Peterson put it perfectly when he said, “She had the biggest heart and huge energy that just enveloped everybody.” Peterson also said, “Everybody loved her. Her political adversaries liked her. Her friends liked her. She was a joy to be around.”

Following her defeat in the 1990 election, she was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in 1991 by the NDP government. She became an Associate Chief Justice and the coordinator of the justices of the peace from 1995 to 2001.

Ms. Roberts cared deeply about her community, and in her spare time was a philanthropist and great supporter of local museums. In reading the background that we were given, Madam Speaker, you knew immediately that she cared about her community, because in her spare time, which there must not have been much of, she was the director of the Elgin Conservation Foundation, the Talbot Estate Foundation and secretary of the East Elgin branch of the Canadian Cancer Society.

I’d like to thank the members of the family that are with us here today: Emily, Elena, Laurie, Adam, Mike, Scott, Hayden, Matthew, Victoria; family friend Darcelle Hall; and Lauren Scully from the Ontario Court of Justice. I’ve been told that other members of the family are watching live on television in St. Thomas and in areas right across the province. So to her entire family, to all of her friends, on behalf of Ontario Liberals, I’d like to thank you for sharing Marietta with us, and thank you for everything that she did for her community and for the province of Ontario.

Applause.