It is an honour to be able to rise today and pay tribute to Keith McDonald, who represented Prince Edward–Lennox in the Liberal government from 1987 to 1990.

A special hello to his wife, Eleanor Lindsay—she’s home and watching online, I understand, herself a former municipal warden and tremendous supporter of local health care in the new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital that we’re building in Picton—as well as members of her family who are watching online; and a special welcome to Monica, Keith’s granddaughter, who joined us today. It’s great to have you here.

From time to time, we get into some pretty heated discussions in these chambers, and it shows our passion. Well, when Keith got to this place, he already had quite a reputation for being a fiery competitor with a no-quit attitude.

Keith grew up on a farm right in the middle of what we now know as Sandbanks Provincial Park. He raised cattle and crops, and he welcomed guests to the old Lakeland Lodge, which was there as well. It was a well-known cottage operation where his family welcomed tourists from all across the continent.

While he was attentive to his chores, Keith’s passion was sport. He was a tennis champ at Belleville’s Albert College, and his skills were honed against guests at the lodge over the summer months. He was an all-star third baseman in softball and baseball, but Keith’s favourite sport was hockey, and he was pretty darn good at it. According to an interview that he gave the Picton Gazette, he started skating on Athol Bay at the tender age of three, and he often skated against much older competitors.

He was so interested in hockey that the farming business might have been impacted at least once because of it—probably more often than not. One winter when Keith was in his twenties, his dad, Norman, spent some time down in Florida, and he left the cows in his son’s care. Keith got a bit tired of milking the cows and wanted to focus his attention instead on being on the ice, and he found a solution: After about a week, he picked up the phone and told Norman that he had sold the whole bunch of them, the whole herd. He was just a pest, though; he didn’t actually do it.

Keith really was a pest. He was a lot like Matthew Tkachuk, who’s playing for the Florida Panthers right now, getting under the skin of the Maple Leafs and, previously, the Boston Bruins. He would do anything in his power to give his team an edge. He didn’t only dish it out; he could also take it. Keith had to drop the gloves many times, and win or lose, he made an impact. People really took notice. Back in the late 1950s, he was recruited on the famed Belleville McFarlands, who went on to win the Allan Cup as Canadian senior champions in 1958, and then subsequently won a world championship for Canada in the old Czechoslovakia, in Prague, in 1959.

Around the same time, there was this young buck named Bobby Hull who was coming up through the system, another Quinte-area product; we’ve recently mourned his death. He was training with the Macs, and he was known for his physique, as well, and his toughness that was necessary at times. Keith made an impression on the young star, the Golden Jet, too. As a matter of fact, “He’s tougher than a night in jail,” the Golden Jet remarked. Keith was always in his teammates’ corner, and that reputation stuck with him later in life. Keith inspired these attributes in his five step-grandchildren, and they showed similar grit, skill and determination whether they were in the classroom, on the diamond or on the ice years later.

He was also a fan favourite, and, fittingly, he was the first person inducted into the Prince Edward County Sports Hall of Fame. While he stayed involved in sports as a referee, Keith transferred his passion to the political arena. He rose to become the reeve in Hallowell, and Prince Edward county’s warden in 1974. Counting his three years here, Keith spent more than 30 years in politics municipally and provincially.

While Keith made no secret about missing his Prince Edward county home, he was active in his time here at Queen’s Park. He served as chair of his government’s eastern Ontario caucus and the standing committees on economic policy and municipal government reform. He was really interested in clean energy, tourism and preserving farmers’ livelihoods in a time of emerging free trade. Those were among his main causes of choice.

Back in county politics, Keith was the model of decorum—in some ways, not all ways. He insisted that he and other councillors show up to meetings wearing a shirt and tie, and he always had time to listen to the people he represented. He often showed up to meetings first and left last. At one point, after surgery, wearing a full leg cast up to his hip, he was regularly climbing the stairs to the second-storey chambers at Shire Hall to serve.

Where he might not have been such a great model of decorum was in advocating for those constituents. We heard about Bill Murdoch earlier; I wouldn’t put him in that category, but he was pretty tough. Those who followed Prince Edward county council still spin some yarns today when they’re talking about those old council debates and his unprompted monologues at times. Regardless of the night’s agenda, there’d be a moment when Keith would say, “I’ve been talking to so-and-so,” and then he would find a way to lay out a constituent’s concerns with a passionate plea for help. Sometimes there was just no stopping him, short of the mayors ruling him out of order and sending him home, which happened on many occasions.

The neighbours knew they had found a sincere advocate, and they knew his firm handshake and his word were indeed his bond. He also argued strongly for fiscal responsibility at tax time, and he urged common sense solutions.

In total, when Keith retired from his political career following the 2014 municipal election, he had spent 45 consecutive years in public service, quite a remarkable legacy. Those who knew Keith beyond his gruff exterior—and I’m fortunate to have called him a friend—also know that he had a warm heart, and he had a lot of time for others.

Back on the South Shore farm that he loved, Keith was actively engaged in Prince Edward county community events until his passing at age 93. He was a larger-than-life character. He never quit. He’s going to be missed in Prince Edward county and my Bay of Quinte riding.

Thank you to Keith’s family for joining us online and here today in the chamber and allowing him to serve for so many years. We lost Keith MacDonald in March of 2021, but his legacy will live on in Ontario and especially in his beloved Prince Edward county.