Morley Kells (born January 26, 1936) is a former
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
in
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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. He was a
Progressive Conservative 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 ...
on two separate occasions from 1981 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 2003, and was briefly 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’, â ...
in the government of
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'' and subsequen ...
. He was an unsuccessful candidate for
Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022.
Structure
The cur ...
in the
2010 municipal election.
Background
Kells was born in
Midland, Ontario
Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Huronia/Wendat region of Central Ontario.
Located at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, ...
in 1936. He was raised in the village of
Mimico
Mimico is a neighbourhood (and a former municipality) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being located in the south-west area of Toronto on Lake Ontario. It is in the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an in ...
in the southern part of
Etobicoke
Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...
in west
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 ...
, Ontario. While in High School in Mimico, Morley was initiated into Gamma Sigma Fraternity International, Beta Nu Chapter in 1953. Kells went on to lead the fraternity as Grand President while an active member over many years with the fraternity. Morley attended the 150th anniversary of the founding of Gamma Sigma, in Niagara Falls Ontario in October 2019 with a large group of alumni.
He was a
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
player from 1954 to 1961. In 1955 became a
Minto Cup
The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's box lacrosse team of Canada.
It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto. Originally restricted to amateurs, within three years the first under-the-table professional ...
champion with the Canadian Junior Lacrosse Long Branch team. He worked as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s, and started the semi-professional
Ontario Lacrosse Association
The Ontario Lacrosse Association (Ontario Lacrosse) is a not-for-profit sport organization and a member association of the Canadian Lacrosse Association, the national governing body for lacrosse in Canada. The Ontario Lacrosse Association is the ...
in 1972. In 1974-75, he co-founded the
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
, with six teams in Canada and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. He received the
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968.
Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...
Award for contribution to sport in 1973, and was named to the
Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1976.
Kells also worked as a
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, writing for ''
The Telegram
''The Telegram'' is a daily newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays (as ''The Weekend Telegram'') in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
History
''The Evening Telegram'' was first published on April 3, 1879 by William James Herde ...
'' newspaper and serving as communications accounting executive for MacLaren Advertising. From 1965 to 1970, he served as the creative director for
Hockey Night in Canada
CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
. From 1990 to 1995, he served as president of the Urban Development Institute of Ontario.
Municipal politics
He was elected as an
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
in Etobicoke in 1976, and won a controller's seat in 1978. Kells ran for
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of Etobicoke in 1980, but was defeated by incumbent
Dennis Flynn
Christopher Dennis Flynn (according to Irish Civic Birth Registration, his name was Denis Christopher O'Flynn at birth) O.Ont, (December 17, 1923 – August 19, 2003) was Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto from 1984 to 1988. Flynn rarely used ...
.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for
Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022.
Structure
The cur ...
for Ward 5 (Etobicoke Lakeshore), seeking to unseat incumbent councillor
Peter Milczyn
Peter Zygmunt Milczyn (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2014 to 2018 who represented the west Toronto riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore. He was a member of cabi ...
in the
October 25, 2010 municipal election.
Provincial politics
Kells ran for the Ontario legislature in the
provincial election of 1971, losing to
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* t ...
candidate
Patrick Lawlor by 735 votes in the
Etobicoke
Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...
riding of
Lakeshore.
1981–1985
Kells was elected to the Ontario legislature in the
provincial election of 1981, outpolling
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 Jim Mills by over 10,000 votes in the Etobicoke riding of
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
.
He was made a
parliamentary assistant
In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the U ...
in 1983. Kells supported
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'' and subsequen ...
's successful campaign for the
party leadership in January 1985
Premier Miller appointed Kells
Minister of the Environment
An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...
in his new government on February 8, 1985.
Kells' time in cabinet was short-lived. He was not well respected by his staff, and made a rather serious
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
blunder in March 1985. Commenting on a major
PCB
PCB may refer to:
Science and technology
* Polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic chlorine compound, now recognized as an environmental toxin and classified as a persistent organic pollutant
* Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics
* ...
spill in northern Ontario, he said, "If you're a rat eating PCBs on the TransCanada, you might have some problems." This was widely interpreted as reflecting a lack of concern for serious environmental issues, and did considerable damage to the Miller government.
Early in his ministerial tenure, Kells had intended to announce a $100-million cash infusion for his ministry, with the money to be spent cleaning polluted dump sites and hiring new inspectors. The announcement was postponed, however, when the Miller government decided to de-emphasize social initiatives in favour of fiscal responsibility in the 1985 campaign.
Kells would never get the chance to deliver this message. He lost to Liberal candidate
Jim Henderson by almost 2,000 votes in the
1985 provincial election, in which the Tories were reduced to a minority.
1995–2003
In the
provincial election of 1995, Kells ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of
Etobicoke—Lakeshore
Etobicoke—Lakeshore (formerly known as Lakeshore and Toronto—Lakeshore) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968.
It covers the southern part of the Etobi ...
, and defeated incumbent
New Democrat
New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...
Ruth Grier
Ruth Anna Grier (born 2 October 1936) is a Canadian former politician in Ontario. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1995, and served as a high-profile cabinet minister in the government ...
and Liberal Bruce Davis by a significant margin.
He was reportedly annoyed at not being appointed to the cabinet of
Mike Harris
Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...
, however, and played only a limited role in the
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
that followed. He did not serve as a parliamentary assistant, and did not even serve on any committees after 1997. He did serve as a member of the Red Tape Commission of MPPs.
Kells' riding was targeted by both the Liberal and NDP in the
1999 provincial election, but he managed to win re-election by a significant margin (defeating Liberal
Laurel Broten
Laurel C. Broten (born 1967) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2013, who represented the Toronto riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore. She served in the cabinet ...
by almost 5,000 votes).
Once again, he played only a limited role in the parliament which followed.
The Tories had lost much of their
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 ...
-area support by the time of the
2003 election, and Kells lost to Broten by just over 5,000 votes in a rematch from 1999.
Federal politics
Morley Kells was a candidate for the nomination of the
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
in Etobicoke-Lakeshore on May 5, 2005, although he was defeated by the 2004 federal candidate
John Capobianco.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kells, Morley
1936 births
Canadian lacrosse players
Lacrosse people from Ontario
Living people
Members of the Executive Council of Ontario
People from Midland, Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs
Sportspeople from Etobicoke
21st-century Canadian politicians