Norm Miller, MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, joined his Legislative colleagues in paying tribute to the late Ken Black, former MPP for Muskoka-Georgian Bay from 1987 until 1990.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an honour and a privilege to pay tribute to Ken Black, a great champion for Muskoka,\u201d said Miller.<\/p>\n
This is the full transcript of his comments at Queen’s Park (or you’ll find video of his comments at the bottom of this post):<\/p>\n
Thank you, Speaker. Let me begin by welcoming all of Ken\u2019s family and friends who have made the trip to Queen\u2019s Park today. You mentioned some\u2014Ken\u2019s wife, Beth, and kids\u2014they\u2019re not kids anymore\u2014Greg, Debbie and Kendra, and I believe David\u2019s still in the Yukon, and grandkids and friends, nieces and nephews who have all made the trip here. It\u2019s great to see such a huge group down to pay tribute to Ken today.<\/p>\n
My family has had a long association with the Black family. Ken\u2019s brother, Lyle was our family doctor when I was growing up. Lyle was also president of the Muskoka Progressive Conservative Riding Association. He did my aviation medicals when I learned to fly. I was about 20 years old when he very generously let me fly his beautiful Cessna 182 whenever I wished for many years. I\u2019ve always wondered why he entrusted that to me.<\/p>\n
I have to admit that, with his older brother so involved with the PCs, I always assumed that Ken must be a Conservative and was a little shocked when I heard he was running for the Liberals. It was around the time that Lyle passed away, so I always assumed he waited until his older brother passed to show his true Liberal colours.<\/p>\n
The Blacks lived just down the road from us on the Muskoka River. Ken\u2019s wife, Beth, played the piano for singsongs we had at our lodge when we hosted senior bus tours. I still find myself whistling some of the songs without realizing I\u2019m doing it. Son Greg and I played hockey together on Monday<\/span> nights in Port Carling and in the Lovable Losers Hockey Tournament for many, many years.<\/p>\n Ken was principal of the Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School that I attended. Ken certainly commanded respect at the high school. He kept his finger on the pulse of the school by walking the hallways on a regular basis. Actually I would say he strutted the hallways, often wearing a bowtie to go with his dapper suit. As a student, you knew not to question his authority. He took pride in his work, and he ran a tight ship.<\/p>\n One of the highlights of my time at high school was a two-week trip to England in 1974. Ken had spent a year in Nottingham furthering his education and, over that time, had made many contacts, so it was arranged that the high school band, in which I played the trumpet not very well, planned a trip to England. Conducted by Mr. John Rutherford, we headed to Nottingham to play a series of concerts. We were billeted by families for the week, and my family was the Cresswell family.<\/p>\n Ken made the trip with the band and let us know the rules. Remember, as a student you did not break Ken\u2019s rules. One of the rules was, you were not allowed to drink alcohol. I barely stepped foot in the Cresswells on the Friday<\/span> we arrived and they informed me they were going to the pub as was their Friday<\/span> night tradition. I informed them that I was not allowed to drink, and they said I could stay home alone if I wished. I guess it\u2019s safe to admit now that, within an hour of arriving in Nottingham, I was in a local pub enjoying a pint of very good English beer and hoping that Principal Black would not decide to visit the same pub or somehow find out that I had.<\/p>\n Thank you to Ron Jacques and Bill and Jan Dickinson for sending me information about Ken at school, about his involvement with environmental causes. The Dickinsons sent this story:<\/p>\n \u201cDuring our second year in Bracebridge, we had some monstrous snowfalls and, as you know, we were living in the gatehouse at P-K Lodge owned by the Miller family. Ken was always insistent that if you chose to live out of town, you had to get to school \u2018no matter what.\u2019 On one of those wild snowy mornings, Ken picked up Ron Jacques on his snow machine and in they went.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were still snowbound and thought we were excused. Didn\u2019t happen. Ken found out that the Knowles had a plumbing truck in the area and he arranged for that truck to pick up the Whitelaws, Dickinsons and Agnes Tough\u2014who was the secretary\u2014in the back of the truck and ship them to school. Ken ran a tight ship and he worked hard. Consistent with his personality he expected those around him to do so as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to Greg Black for digging up this letter from my father to Ken after the graduation of June 26, 1975.<\/p>\n He wrote, \u201cDear Ken,<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not one, as you know, to write letters patting people on the back. I did want though, to compliment you on your address to the students and parents during the graduation ceremonies.<\/p>\n \u201cYou expressed very well the very feelings I have had over the past two years. We have been living beyond our means; we have been using our resources at an unseemly and unjustifiable rate. Whether we like it or not, life will change in the near future.<\/p>\n \u201cThis may not be a bad thing. For all the wealth and affluence around us, there are far more unhappy people today than there were 30 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world has begun to look upon their rights rather than their responsibilities, with the result that everyone want something more for doing less.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure your speech was accepted very well by both the parents and the students.<\/p>\n \u201cYours sincerely, Ken Black was elected to the Ontario Legislature in the riding of Muskoka\u2013Georgian Bay in 1987. Thanks again to his son Greg, I have a poem handwritten by my father to Ken. Now, I can\u2019t ever remember my father writing a poem, so I don\u2019t know where this came from, but he did give me a copy of it, so I\u2019m trusting this. This is the poem:<\/p>\n I give you this tie that is plaid, I was able to reach for top spot However the voters were fickle Ken went on to serve as the Minister of Tourism and Recreation, and he was appointed special advisor to the Premier to coordinate the government\u2019s assault on drug use in Ontario. He conducted a one-man task force and coordinated the anti-drug strategies of seven ministries.<\/p>\n However, politics was just one chapter in Ken\u2019s remarkable career. After his term in office, Ken later served as president of the Muskoka Heritage Foundation and founded the Muskoka Watershed Council in 2001.<\/p>\n Bill Dickinson wrote the following for Ken\u2019s nomination for an environmental award, the Wayland Drew Award:<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps Ken\u2019s greatest contribution to the Muskoka environmental scene was the conception and development of the Muskoka Watershed Council. He saw the need to somehow partner the district of Muskoka with a local NGO environmental organization the Muskoka Conservancy (the Muskoka Heritage Foundation at the time) to attain a new level of environmental awareness. Ken used his role as president of the Muskoka Heritage Foundation to facilitate this. With great perseverance and determination he was successful in achieving this goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to the council there was no conservation authority in Muskoka and no single agency responsible for water quality throughout the watershed. Ken has left a legacy of watershed report cards, research partnerships and position papers that will measure Muskoka\u2019s watershed health and guide governments.<\/p>\n Later in life, Ken continued to advocate for environmental protectionism and focused on volunteering and writing columns for the newspaper, including \u201cIn My View\u201d for the Weekender and muskokaregion.com<\/a>. His last column was titled \u201cTime for an International Agreement on Sharing Great Lakes Water.\u201d His blog dated August 22, 2016, asked us to take better care of our fresh water resources. He wrote, \u201cI suggest individual citizens, the business and corporate sectors, and the governments we elect, all need to get serious about a resource that is under threat from a changing climate, and is also one we all too often take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n Ken cared deeply for Muskoka, for its people and its natural heritage. Sadly, we have lost a strong advocate and a strong voice for our area. He was passionate about his community, a proponent of equal opportunity and a true champion of Muskoka, and that is how he will always remain. Thank you.<\/p>\n Ken Black died August 29, 2016. Read more about him here<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free, twice-weekly newsletter here<\/u>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u201cFrank S. Miller
\n\u201cMember for Muskoka\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTo remind you of times I once had,
\nWhen Conservatives reigned
\nAnd the Liberals complained
\nAbout all of the things that were bad<\/p>\n
\nAnd to get there I struggled a lot
\nSo you\u2019ll have to agree
\nThat the tartan for me
\nOnce helped me to hit the jackpot!<\/p>\n
\nAnd my charisma was not worth a nickel
\nDon\u2019t let Bay Street schmoes
\nMake you change your clothes
\nStick with plaid, and you won\u2019t be in a pickle.<\/p>\n