Arthur Edward Martin Maloney was a Canadian criminal lawyer, Progressive Conservative member of Parliament, civil-liberties advocate, and Ontario’s first Ombudsman. He represented Parkdale from 1957 to 1962, helped develop the Canadian Bill of Rights, and served as Ombudsman from 1975 until 1979.
Background
Maloney was born on November 26, 1919, in Eganville, Ontario, in the Ottawa Valley. He was the son of Martin James Maloney, a physician and Conservative member of the House of Commons. His family placed him within a politically active Ontario milieu before he entered legal practice and public life.
Maloney's early background connected rural eastern Ontario with Toronto's professional and political institutions. He later lived and worked chiefly in Toronto, where he became known for criminal defence work, parliamentary advocacy, and public discussion of criminal justice and civil liberties.
Education
Maloney attended St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto before undertaking legal training at Osgoode Hall. St. Michael’s College, founded in 1852, is a Roman Catholic college federated with the University of Toronto and has traditionally combined university education with Catholic intellectual formation. The University of Toronto was Ontario’s principal research university and a major centre of professional education during Maloney’s student years.
He completed his legal education at Osgoode Hall in 1943. Osgoode Hall was then Ontario’s principal institutional centre for legal education and professional training under the Law Society of Upper Canada. Maloney was called to the bar in 1943 and entered criminal law at a time when legal qualification still combined formal lectures with practical office training.
Career
Maloney began practising law after completing his legal training in 1943 and became a prominent Toronto criminal defence lawyer. His practice included serious criminal and capital cases. In 1952 he represented Leonard Jackson, a member of the notorious Boyd Gang, in the prosecution arising from the murder of Toronto police detective Edmund Tong. Jackson was convicted and executed, and the case contributed to Maloney’s later opposition to capital punishment. He also represented Wilbert Coffin in a widely publicized murder case.
In 1947, Maloney was appointed to the Ontario Parole Board but resigned after approximately three months. His early public service was followed by his election as the Progressive Conservative member for Parkdale in the 1957 federal election. He was re-elected in 1958 and served in the 23rd and 24th Parliaments of Canada. From August 7, 1957, to February 1, 1958, he was Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour.
During his parliamentary career, Maloney was associated with the development of the Canadian Bill of Rights, which received royal assent on August 10, 1960. The statute was Canada's first federal law expressly setting out fundamental rights and freedoms, including protections relating to equality, liberty, legal rights, religion, speech, and association. Maloney was defeated in Parkdale in the 1962 election by Liberal candidate Stanley Haidasz.
Maloney remained active in legal and civil-liberties causes after leaving Parliament. In 1964 he established the Canadian Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, a national organization opposing capital punishment. In 1975 the Ontario Legislature requested his appointment as the province’s first Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act, 1975. He was sworn in on October 30, 1975, and held the office until 1979, when Donald Morand succeeded him. The Ontario Ombudsman’s office was created as an independent parliamentary institution to investigate administrative actions that could be unjust, unfair, discriminatory, or wrong.
Maloney’s later years were affected by a stroke in 1979 and by cancer. He died at his residence in Rockwood, Ontario, on September 20, 1984. His funeral was held at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto.
Maloney was a principal author and parliamentary participant in the development of the Canadian Bill of Rights, enacted in 1960 as Canada's first federal statute expressly recognizing and protecting fundamental human rights and freedoms.
He founded the Canadian Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in 1964, creating a national organization devoted to opposition to capital punishment.
He became Ontario’s first Ombudsman in 1975, helping establish the province’s independent parliamentary office for investigating maladministration and unfair treatment by provincial public bodies.
Politics
Maloney was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and represented Parkdale, Ontario, in the House of Commons from 1957 to 1962. He served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour from August 1957 to February 1958 and participated in parliamentary debates on labour, criminal justice, immigration, policing, and civil liberties.
His political career developed during the postwar period when Canadian Progressive Conservatism combined parliamentary government, social order, economic development, and a strong conception of national institutions. Maloney's legal background shaped his public concerns, particularly his opposition to capital punishment and his support for statutory protection of fundamental rights. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Stanley Haidasz in the 1962 election.
Views
Maloney’s public philosophy emphasized the dignity of the accused, the importance of fair criminal procedure, and opposition to capital punishment. His defence practice and parliamentary speeches reflected concern that criminal records, prejudicial evidence, and unequal access to representation could distort the administration of justice.
His work on the Canadian Bill of Rights and his later creation of the Canadian Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty placed him within the postwar Canadian civil-liberties movement. The Canadian Bill of Rights was a federal statute rather than a constitutional document, but it established an important legislative statement of rights before the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982.
Membership
Maloney founded the Canadian Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in 1964. The society was a national civil-liberties organization that advocated the removal of capital punishment from Canadian law, reflecting his involvement in criminal cases involving defendants sentenced to death.
Founder
Canadian Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty
,
Canada
1964
Personality
Contemporary descriptions portray Maloney as articulate, charismatic, socially engaging, and capable of forceful public advocacy. His parliamentary and legal appearances were noted for their fluency and concern with criminal justice and civil liberties.
Quotes from others about the person
During the 1975 Ontario legislative ceremony appointing Maloney as Ombudsman, legislators described him as a distinguished citizen and praised the lucidity, perception, sensitivity, and legal protectiveness associated with his public advocacy.
Connections
Maloney was the son of Martin James Maloney, a physician and former Member of Parliament. His documented parliamentary colleagues included Roland Michener, who later served as Governor General of Canada. Maloney’s funeral at St. Michael’s Cathedral was officiated by Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter and Sean O’Sullivan.
Father:
Martin James Maloney
Physician and Conservative member of the Canadian House of Commons.
Collegue :
Roland Michener
Parliamentary colleague in the House of Commons of Canada.
