Listen Up! Bill Calvert was a man of the earth and so much more. May he rest in peace.

Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler

Sometimes the reality of life jumps up and bites you on the nose. It happened to me a week or so ago when someone unexpectedly died after a very short illness. I know, people die all the time. Whether it’s family or friends, it hurts, perhaps in different ways, but none the less, it hurts, and it leaves a big hole in those that are left behind. Inevitably life changes.

Bill Calvert is a man I shall never forget. Paradoxically, he is man who many people may not remember. That is because he was a quiet man, one who never drew attention to himself, but one, who in his own unique way, represented the very fabric of Muskoka.

I will always remember the first time I met Bill Calvert because it got me into a heap of trouble. It started with a phone call from Frank Miller. I think it was during his short stint as Minister of Natural Resources, but it might have been later when he was Minister of Finance. At that time, I was Chairman of Muskoka, and District Council had just completed a difficult and controversial purge of several employees who were holdovers from smaller municipalities that existed before the Muskoka Act came into force in the early seventies. Glen Williams, a fine gentleman and former Clerk of Gravenhurst, was Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) at the time. He was adamantly opposed to the staffing changes we made and although he was nearing retirement, he resigned on principle.

Frank Miller, as our MPP was aware of all of this; in fact, it was quite a public hullabaloo at the time. He knew we were searching for a new CAO and that is why he called me. He told me he knew of this senior guy in the government, (I think he was an Assistant Deputy Minister) stationed somewhere in Northern Ontario, who was one of the bright lights he wanted to bring to Toronto. The problem was, he said, the man and his family would not move one step further south than Muskoka. The man of course was Bill Calvert and Miller was urging me to hire him as CAO for Muskoka.

I explained why I couldn’t do it. We had just completed an exhaustive search for a CAO. We had chosen a candidate and were set to announce it the next day. Frank Miller put the pressure on. He told me we would never find a person more qualified and capable than Bill Calvert. He urged me to meet him. I agreed to do so, mostly as a courtesy and only at my home, not at the District Office, as the people there believed the search process was complete.

That is how Bill Calvert came in to my home and my life. I hired him within half an hour of meeting him. I didn’t ask anyone. I just did it and damn the consequences. He was that kind of guy, just too qualified and too interesting to turn down. I had to go to the District Office and backtrack on everything we had done. Lots of people, elected and otherwise, especially the guy who thought he had the job, were pretty mad at me, but it was the best decision I ever made in my political life.

I am not sure how long Bill remained as CAO of Muskoka, but I am guessing it was about 30 years. When he first came in, he faced a fractured administration, a cranky Council and some vicious media. He conquered them all. From the day he arrived he ran a smooth ship. I never saw him angry or heard him raise his voice. He had this manner of making people feel good about what they did. He knew what had to be done and he knew how to get it done without fanfare and without chaos. I honestly do not know what I would have done without him, and his longevity in a difficult job, suggests that my successors felt the same way.

That was Bill Calvert the bureaucrat and in my view, one of the best this Province has seen. But that was not his essence. Outside of his family, Bill was never happier than when he was at one with nature. He was a consummate naturalist and environmentalist. He knew Algonquin Park like the back of his hand and received a rare reward from The Friends of Algonquin Park as a result, alongside people like A. J. Casson, Ralph Bice and Pierre Trudeau. He also knew where the fish were, and I mean particular fish! I remember him telling Frank Miller once where there was a special trout in a certain spot and they came home with it!

One of my favorite stories is hard to believe but very true. While I was District Chair, Bill and I were driving through Algonquin Park on our way to some sort of meeting in Ottawa. It was early April as I recall. The sun was shining, the snow was melting. It was an early Spring day. Bill stopped the car near a lake in the Park. He walked to the water and stood there for a few minutes. I thought he was just enjoying the Spring weather, but then he started to whistle and as he did so, small birds started to fly about. And then, as he put out his arms and kept whistling, they landed on him. It was almost as if they were welcoming him back. I have never seen anything like it.

Bill was known far and wide for his instinctive excellence as a naturalist. He was an expert on forestry and wildlife and was broadly consulted in all areas of the environment. He had a special relationship with indigenous people and often acted as a mediator for them. He loved to fish and he loved to hunt and he was passionate about preserving nature.

Decades after Bill came to Muskoka, I was Mayor of Huntsville. Bill was retired from The District and happily enjoying family and outdoor time, but we had a serious problem at the Town that cried for his skills. We reached out to him and he came. He mended fences, he mentored our people and he set the ship on a solid course. And then, his work done, he quietly left. That was the kind of guy he was.

In many ways, Bill was a very private man who was comfortable in his own skin. He didn’t seek the limelight and was likely uncomfortable when he found himself in it. But his contributions to Ontario and to Muskoka and indeed to our precious natural heritage, are significant.

He was a rare man of the earth and to the earth he has now returned. May he rest in peace.

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