Among his most important accomplishments, Kelly undertook a two-year research project for the two best-selling books in the field of Canadian history: The National Dream and The Last Spike, written by Pierre Berton.

Kelly won the Governor General's Award for his work in The National Dream,[1] which was transferred to television by the CBC as a popular, award-winning documentary series of the same name.

In this latter capacity, Kelly was given the responsibility of guiding the government's reorganization of its Crown Corporations, Bill C-124, through the House of Commons and its Committees.

[4] The report, Equality Now, contained 80 ground breaking recommendations aimed at protecting visible minority cultures in Canada while integrating their members into the Canadian mainstream.

He attempted to win the Liberal nomination prior to the 1988 election, but quit the race when Odysseus Katsaitis emerged as the front runner.

Kelly took this stance as he views multicultural programs to further segregate rather than integrate diverse members of the Canadian community.

He also became one of the earliest advocates for merging the City of Toronto with five of its suburbs, an idea he pushed as Chair of the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

[14] In September 2015, the nonprofit organization HackerNest presented Kelly with the "Nerd Champion" award for his support of the city's technology community.

It includes T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatpants featuring images of Kelly, the word "Dad" in different languages, and slogans such as "Too lit to politic."