Roy McMurtry

1932–

Roland Roy McMurtry (1932– ), known as Roy McMurtry, was a Canadian lawyer, politician, judge, and landscape painter. Beyond McMurtry’s professional commitments to the province of Ontario, he spent much of his free time at his cottage in Muskoka where he painted several hundred landscapes.

Born in Toronto, McMurtry was educated at St. Andrews College and obtained a Bachelor of History from the University of Toronto before receiving a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1958. He went on to have a highly successful career in both law and politics. He began political career with the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1960s. He was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1975, and he was appointed Attorney General from 1975 to 1985 and Solicitor General from 1978 to 1982. From 1985 to 1988, he served as the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He was then appointed the Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court (Trial Division) in Ontario in 1991, and he became the Chief Justice of Ontario in 1996, where he headed the court system for the entire province. In 2007, he retired and returned to his independent law practice. At this time, the McMurtry Gardens of Justice, a charitable organization and garden, was established in his honor. McMurtry went on to serve as the Chancellor of York University from 2008 to 2014.

Throughout his life, McMurtry produced several hundred paintings. He was trained by, and often painted with, Group of Seven member A.J. Casson. Using painting as a mode of relaxation, his favourite place to paint was at his cottage in Muskoka where he had direct access to the natural world and distractions were limited. He most frequently painted landscapes using oil paints due to their versatility and textural variation. He often donated his paintings to charity auctions or gifted them to friends. Many of his works are currently hung in the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.