Morley Kells
Encyclopedia
Morley Kells is a longtime politician
in Ontario
, Canada
. He served as a Progressive Conservative
member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
on two separate occasions, and was briefly a cabinet minister in the government of Frank Miller
. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Toronto City Council
in the 2010 municipal election
.
and is a resident of Mimico
. He was a lacrosse
player from 1954 to 1961. In 1955 became a Minto Cup
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
in 1972. In 1974-75, he co-founded the National Lacrosse League
, with six teams in Canada and the United States
. He received the Lester B. Pearson
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
, writing for The Telegram
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
.
, losing to New Democratic Party candidate Patrick Lawlor
by 735 votes in the Etobicoke
riding
of Lakeshore. He was elected as an alderman
in Etobicoke in 1976, and won a controller's seat in 1978. Kells ran for mayor
of Etobicoke in 1980, but was defeated.
, outpolling Liberal
candidate Jim Mills
by over 10,000 votes in the Etobicoke riding of Humber. He was made a parliamentary assistant in 1983. Kells supported Frank Miller
's successful campaign for the party leadership in January 1985
Kells's time in office was short-lived. He was not well respected by his staff, and made a rather serious public relations
blunder in March 1985. Commenting on a major PCB
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.
, Kells ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore
, and defeated incumbent New Democrat Ruth Grier
and Liberal Bruce Davis by a significant margin. He was reportedly annoyed at not being appointed to the cabinet of Mike Harris
, however, and played only a limited role in the parliament
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
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
-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.
in Etobicoke-Lakeshore on May 5 2005, although he was defeated by the 2004 federal candidate John Capobianco.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for Toronto City Council
for Ward 5 (Etobicoke Lakeshore), seeking to unseat incumbent councillor Peter Milczyn
in the October 25, 2010 municipal election
.
Unofficial results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 AM
views, and has spoken in opposition to same-sex marriage
.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He served as a Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
on two separate occasions, and was briefly a cabinet minister in the government of Frank Miller
Frank Miller (politician)
Frank Stuart Miller, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.-Early life and political career:...
. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
in the 2010 municipal election
Toronto city council election, 2010
For information on the campaign for mayor see Toronto mayoral election, 2010The 2010 Toronto council election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect councillors to represent Toronto's 44 wards at Toronto City Council...
.
Early life
Kells was raised in EtobicokeEtobicoke, Ontario
Etobicoke is a dissolved municipality located within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the western section of the current city, it had an official population of 338,117 as measured by the 2001 Census and 334,491 people as of the 2006 Census. While it only contains 13% of...
and is a resident of Mimico
Mimico
The historic Town of Mimico is a neighbourhood in the south-western part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-east corner of the former Township of Etobicoke, and was an independent municipality from 1911 to 1967....
. He was a lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
player from 1954 to 1961. In 1955 became a Minto Cup
Minto Cup
The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's lacrosse team of Canada.It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto, and from 1901 until 1909 awarded to the senior men's champion of Canada...
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
Ontario Lacrosse Association
Ontario Lacrosse Association is a sanctioned sports body in Ontario, Canada. Empowered by the Canadian Lacrosse Association, the OLA controls and regulates Minor level, Junior level and Senior level Lacrosse...
in 1972. In 1974-75, he co-founded the National Lacrosse League
National Lacrosse League (1974-75)
The National Lacrosse League was a box lacrosse league that lasted two seasons: 1974 and 1975. It is not related to the modern National Lacrosse League....
, with six teams in Canada and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He received the Lester B. Pearson
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
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
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, writing for The Telegram
The Telegram
The Telegram is a daily newspaper published in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:The Evening Telegram was first published on April 3, 1879 by William James Herder. It adopted its current name in 1998, although it was also briefly published under this name in 1881...
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
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
.
Early political career
Kells first ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1971Ontario general election, 1971
The Ontario general election of 1971 was held on October 21, 1971, to elect the 117 members of the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, losing to New Democratic Party candidate Patrick Lawlor
Patrick Lawlor
Patrick Daniel Lawlor was a Canadian politician who served as the Ontario NDP Member of the Ontario legislature for the Toronto riding of Lakeshore from 1967 to 1981.-Background:...
by 735 votes in the Etobicoke
Etobicoke, Ontario
Etobicoke is a dissolved municipality located within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the western section of the current city, it had an official population of 338,117 as measured by the 2001 Census and 334,491 people as of the 2006 Census. While it only contains 13% of...
riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Lakeshore. He was elected as an alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
in Etobicoke in 1976, and won a controller's seat in 1978. Kells ran for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Etobicoke in 1980, but was defeated.
First tenure at Queen's Park
Kells was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1981Ontario general election, 1981
The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, outpolling Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
candidate Jim Mills
Jim Mills
James Anthony Mills is a former American football and Canadian football offensive lineman....
by over 10,000 votes in the Etobicoke riding of Humber. He was made a parliamentary assistant in 1983. Kells supported Frank Miller
Frank Miller (politician)
Frank Stuart Miller, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.-Early life and political career:...
's successful campaign for the party leadership in January 1985
Minister of the Environment under Frank Miller
Premier Miller appointed Kells Minister of the Environment in his new government on February 8, 1985.Kells's time in office was short-lived. He was not well respected by his staff, and made a rather serious public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
blunder in March 1985. Commenting on a major PCB
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
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
Ontario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
, in which the Tories were reduced to a minority.
Out of politics
Kells did not return to electoral politics for another decade. From 1990 to 1995, he served as president of the Urban Development Institute of Ontario.Return to Queen's Park
In the provincial election of 1995Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
, Kells ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore
Etobicoke—Lakeshore
Etobicoke—Lakeshore is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968....
, and defeated incumbent New Democrat Ruth Grier
Ruth Grier
Ruth Anna Grier is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. 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 of Bob Rae....
and Liberal Bruce Davis by a significant margin. He was reportedly annoyed at not being appointed to the cabinet of Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
, however, and played only a limited role in the parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
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
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, but he managed to win re-election by a significant margin (defeating Liberal Laurel Broten
Laurel Broten
Laurel C. Broten is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore for the Ontario Liberal Party. On October 19, 2011, she was appointed Ontario Minister of Education.-Background:Prior to entering politics,...
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
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-area support by the time of the 2003 election
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, and Kells lost to Broten by just over 5,000 votes in a rematch from 1999.
Later political career
Morley Kells was a candidate for the nomination of the Conservative Party of CanadaConservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
in Etobicoke-Lakeshore on May 5 2005, although he was defeated by the 2004 federal candidate John Capobianco.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
for Ward 5 (Etobicoke Lakeshore), seeking to unseat incumbent councillor Peter Milczyn
Peter Milczyn
Peter Milczyn is a city councillor in Toronto, Canada. He represents one of the two Etobicoke—Lakeshore wards, Ward 5 Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Born in Etobicoke, he attended Etobicoke Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto where he got a degree in architecture.He set up his own...
in the October 25, 2010 municipal election
Toronto city council election, 2010
For information on the campaign for mayor see Toronto mayoral election, 2010The 2010 Toronto council election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect councillors to represent Toronto's 44 wards at Toronto City Council...
.
| 2010 Toronto election Toronto city council election, 2010 For information on the campaign for mayor see Toronto mayoral election, 2010The 2010 Toronto council election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect councillors to represent Toronto's 44 wards at Toronto City Council... , Ward 5 |
||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Milczyn | 9,778 | 41.16% |
| Justin Di Ciano | 9,669 | 40.701% |
| Morley Kells | 2,725 | 11.471% |
| John Chiappetta | 1,245 | 5.241% |
| Rob Therrien | 339 | 1.427% |
| Total | 23,756 | 100% |
Unofficial results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 AM
Political views
Kells holds socially conservativeSocial conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
views, and has spoken in opposition to same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
.