William George Beatty is a judge and former politician in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. He currently serves on the Central East Region of the
Ontario Court of Justice
The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and provincial offences. ...
.
Family background
Beatty was born into an established family in
Fergus, Ontario
Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, a township within Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. It lies on the Grand River about 18 km NNW of Guelph. The population of this community at the time of the 2016 Census was 20,767, ...
. His grandfather, also named William George Beatty, was a successful businessman who helped establish the largest manufacturer of households items in the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
.
He is the brother of
Perrin Beatty
Henry Perrin Beatty (born June 1, 1950) is a Canadian corporate executive and former politician, who served as a Progressive Conservative of the House of Commons from 1972 to 1993, and as a cabinet minister from 1979 to 1980 and again from 1984 ...
, who was a high-profile
cabinet minister
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, â ...
in the government of
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
. Both brothers became involved with
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
in the
1962 federal election after attending a speech by
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
.
Legal career
Beatty was appointed to the Ontario Bar in 1977 and has an extensive background in criminal and family law. He was president of the Muskoka Law Association from 1994 to 1996.
Politician
Beatty had a long association with the
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...
prior to his appointment to the bench. He was the party's riding association president for
Muskoka in the 1980s, and was an ally of local MPP
Frank Miller
Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...
during the latter's tenure as party leader. At the party's
November 1985 leadership convention, Beatty supported
Alan Pope
Alan William Pope (August 2, 1945 – July 8, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1990, and served as a cabinet ...
's bid to become Miller's successor.
Beatty won the Progressive Conservative nomination for
Muskoka–Georgian Bay in the buildup to the
1987 provincial election, defeating three other candidates in three ballots (on the final ballot, he defeated rival candidate
Bruce Stanton
Ronald Bruce Stanton (born December 20, 1957) is a Canadian politician who served as Member of Parliament for the riding of Simcoe North from 2006 to 2021. Stanton first ran as a member of the Conservative Party in the 2006 federal election an ...
by only one vote). A newspaper account from this period describes him as a "painfully thin, soft-spoken country lawyer." Although considered a high-profile candidate for the historically conservative territory, he was defeated by
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
candidate
Ken Black
Kenneth Hilton Black (March 11, 1932 – August 29, 2016) was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990, and represented the central Ontario riding of Muskoka–Georgian Bay. He ...
on election day.
Judge
Beatty was appointed as a provincial judge by
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Charles Harnick
Charles Alan Harnick, (born October 14, 1950) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1999, and served as a senior cabinet minister in the gover ...
in December 1998. He was assigned to
Bracebridge.
In 2006, while serving as president of the Ontario Conference of Judges, Beatty criticized judges who were unwilling to review offensive and disturbing images in cases involving
child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
. He acknowledged that it was understandable for judges to want to avoid such images, but also argued that such reluctance would compromise their ability to make fair rulings. (A senior crown attorney had previously complained that some judges were imposing lenient sentences because of their refusal to view the material.)
In 2008, Beatty wrapped up preliminary hearings in a serious case involving corruption charges against
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
police officers.
In 2013, on April 2 an elderly woman in Orillia, Ms. Farrell was attacked by Sgt. Watson, his Honour delivered a landmark decision that sent a direct message to the Policing community, in his Honour's decision he wrote: "Sgt. Watson provided no explanation as to how Ms. Farrell’s tibia was broken, or indeed, the reasons for the bruises on her legs, arms and the loss of a tooth," Provincial Court Justice George Beatty said in his ruling. "Ms. Farrell was acting as a Good Samaritan ... She wanted to assist Sgt. Watson in identifying the assailants.
[Tracy McLaughlin, "Good Samaritan sues cop, OPP over attack", "Toronto Sun", 29 March 2015, 03:34pm]
Electoral record
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatty, George
Living people
Judges in Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidates in Ontario provincial elections
Year of birth missing (living people)