Norm Kelly facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Norm Kelly
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Kelly in 2009
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| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 40 Scarborough—Agincourt |
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| In office December 1, 2000 – December 1, 2018 |
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| Preceded by | Sherene Shaw |
| Succeeded by | Jim Karygiannis |
| Deputy Mayor of Toronto | |
| In office August 21, 2013 – November 30, 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Doug Holyday |
| Succeeded by | Denzil Minnan-Wong |
| Chair of the Scarborough Community Council | |
| In office December 1, 2006 – December 1, 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Michael Thompson |
| Succeeded by | Michael Del Grande |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 14 Scarborough Wexford |
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| In office January 1, 1998 – November 30, 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Ward Created |
| Succeeded by | Ward Abolished |
| Metro Toronto City Councillor for Ward 14 Scarborough Wexford |
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| In office December 1, 1994 – January 1, 1998 |
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| Preceded by | Maureen Prinsloo |
| Succeeded by | City Amalgamated |
| Member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre |
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| In office February 18, 1980 – September 4, 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Diane Stratas |
| Succeeded by | Pauline Browes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Norman Kelly
August 11, 1941 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Charlotte Kelly |
| Children | 2 |
| Residences | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Norman Kelly (born August 11, 1941) is a Canadian politician who is now retired. He served as a city councillor for Scarborough and later for Toronto. He was also a Member of Parliament (MP) for a time. From 2013 to 2014, he held the important role of Deputy Mayor of Toronto.
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Early Life and Education
Norm Kelly is a trained historian. He studied Canadian history at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton University. He also attended Queen's University.
Kelly worked on a big research project for two popular Canadian history books. These books were The National Dream and The Last Spike, written by Pierre Berton. For his work on The National Dream, Kelly won the Governor General's Award. This book was also made into a famous TV documentary series.
Before becoming a politician, Kelly was a history teacher. He taught at Upper Canada College, a private school, and A. Y. Jackson Secondary School in Toronto.
Starting in Politics
Kelly began his political career in 1974. He was elected as an alderman for Ward 3 on the council of Scarborough. At that time, Scarborough was a separate suburb of Toronto. He served in this role until 1980.
Serving in Federal Government
In 1980, Norm Kelly was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP). He represented the area of Scarborough Centre. As an MP, he worked in the federal government.
He was appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary twice. This role helps a minister with their duties. One of his important tasks was to help guide a new law through the House of Commons. This law was about how the government's Crown Corporations were organized.
In 1983, Kelly joined a special committee. This committee studied the status of visible minorities in Canadian society. Their report, called Equality Now, suggested many ways to protect different cultures in Canada. It also aimed to help people from these cultures become part of mainstream Canadian society. Kelly lost his MP seat in the 1984 election.
Return to City Council
After some time away from politics, Kelly was elected to the Metro Toronto council in 1994. He represented Ward 14 Scarborough Wexford. He was known for having strong opinions on how the city should be run. He also supported the idea of merging the City of Toronto with its surrounding suburbs.
When the "megacity" of Toronto was created, he was elected to the new Toronto city council. He was a strong supporter of the first mayor of the new city, Mel Lastman. Later, he had different views from Mayor David Miller. In 2012, he was removed from the Toronto Transit Commission board. This happened because he supported Mayor Rob Ford's plan for subways over the council's preferred plan for light rail transit (LRT).
Becoming Deputy Mayor
In 2013, Norm Kelly became the Deputy Mayor of Toronto. He took over this role after Doug Holyday resigned.
The Deputy Mayor's job is usually mostly ceremonial. However, in 2013, the Toronto City Council voted to give Norm Kelly more responsibilities. This happened after Mayor Rob Ford faced some challenges. Kelly took on many of the mayor's duties for a period of time. This was a very unusual situation.
From May 1, 2014, Kelly handled most of the mayor's duties. This was when Mayor Ford took a leave of absence. Kelly continued in this expanded role until July 1, 2014, when Mayor Ford returned. Even though Kelly had many mayoral powers, he was still officially called the Deputy Mayor.
2018 Election and Retirement
Norm Kelly ran for re-election in the 2018 Toronto election. He ran in the new Ward 22 Scarborough—Agincourt. However, he lost the election to another experienced councillor, Jim Karygiannis. After this, Kelly retired from politics.
Internet Fame
In the summer of 2015, Norm Kelly became very popular on the internet. This happened when he got involved in a public disagreement between Canadian rapper Drake and American rapper Meek Mill on Twitter.
He became part of many internet memes and gained fame in the hip-hop community. By supporting Drake and posting funny things on his Twitter account, Kelly gained a huge number of followers. He had over 720,000 followers. In September 2015, he received the "Nerd Champion" award for supporting the city's technology community.
Twitter Canada also voted Norm Kelly as Canada's Most Valuable Tweeter for 2015.
Besides being a Twitter star, Kelly is also known as "6Dad." He even has his own clothing line. This line includes T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatpants with his image. They also feature the word "Dad" in different languages and slogans like "Too lit to politic." A part of the money from these sales goes to charity.
