Kenneth A. Keyes (born September 16, 1930) is a former politician in Ontario,

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. He was a

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member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1985 to 1990, and served as a

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’, � ...

in the government of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgro ...

Background

Keyes was educated at Toronto Teacher's College,

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

and the

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, receiving a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Education. He was a teacher and principal in

Frontenac County Frontenac County is a county and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. The city of Kingston is in the Frontenac census division, but is separated from the County of Fron ...

for thirty-seven years.

Municipal politics

Keyes served as an alderman in Kingston for twelve years, was deputy mayor for five years. He was elected as mayor in 1976. He served two terms and left office in 1980.

Provincial politics

He ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1971 provincial election, but lost to Progressive Conservative W.J. Nuttall by fewer than 2,000 votes in the constituency of

Frontenac—Addington Frontenac—Addington was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1953. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1924 from parts of Frontenac and Lennox and Addington ...

. He contested Kingston in the 1975 election, but lost to Progressive Conservative

Keith Norton Keith Calder Norton (January 26, 1941 – January 31, 2010) was a Canadian politician and public servant. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, and was until 2005 the chief c ...

by 203 votes. He was elected to the legislature in the 1985 election, defeating Norton by 2,287 votes in the renamed riding of

Kingston and the Islands Kingston and the Islands (french: Kingston et les Îles) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. It covers part of the city of Kingston, Ontario and the sparse ...

. The Liberals formed a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

under David Peterson after this election, and Keyes was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Correctional Services and Solicitor General on June 26, 1985. In late 1986, Keyes became involved in a political controversy after being caught sharing an alcoholic drink with police officers on a police boat in the Kingston area. He stepped down as Solicitor General on December 3, 1986 while the matter was investigated by Toronto police, and was re-instated on January 9, 1987. On another occasion, he provoked controversy by suggesting that some police services in Ontario were using hollow-tipped bullets, contrary to provincial law. Keyes was easily re-elected over

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Deve ...

challenger Gary Wilson in the 1987 provincial election, but was dropped from cabinet after the election and served as a backbencher in the parliament that followed. The Liberals were defeated by the NDP in the 1990 provincial election and Keyes lost his seat to Wilson by 2,092 votes. Keyes supported fellow Kingstonian

John Gerretsen John Philip Gerretsen (born June 9, 1942) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014 who represented the eastern Ontario riding of Kingston and the Islands. He ser ...

's bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party in 1996, and moved to

Joseph Cordiano Joseph Cordiano (born October 30, 1957) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 2006 who represented the riding of Downsview. He served as a cabinet minister in the g ...

's camp when Gerretsen was eliminated after the second ballot. When Cordiano was also eliminated, Keyes supported the victorious candidate,

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nearl ...

Cabinet

Later life

Keyes remains active in the Kingston area. In 1998, he chaired the International Plowing Match and Farm Machinery Show in the neighbouring riding of

Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1984 to 2003, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Ken 1930 births Living people Mayors of Kingston, Ontario Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs University of Ottawa alumni