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.