According to Morton and Knopff, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows interest groups to use litigation and mass media to avoid the democratic process and achieve their own ends.

[6]: 3 By the late 1990s, Morton along with conservatively inclined University of Calgary colleagues (many of whom were also in the Political Science Department) Tom Flanagan, Barry F. Cooper, Rainer Knopff, Roger Gibbins and history professor David Bercuson, became known as the Calgary School, a phrase coined by Johns Hopkins University political science professor David Rovinsky,[10][11][12] Morton is "pro-life, anti-gay-marriage, anti-deficit at all costs and open to more private health care.

[9]: 10 In his December 2010 letter entitled, "Advice to progressives from the Calgary School", Tom Flanagan cited Knopff and Morton as examples of academics who "tackle controversial topics that people care about".

That same year, he was one of a group of six Albertans (including Stephen Harper—later to become prime minister in 2006) who authored the "Alberta Agenda," also known as the Firewall Letter, a manifesto that called on the government of Alberta to use all of its constitutional powers to reduce the influence of the Federal government in the province, including the creation of a provincial police force to replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and withdrawal from the Canada Pension Plan in favour of a provincial pension plan.

In the 2004 Alberta general election, Morton won the newly created seat of Foothills-Rocky View and now sits as an MLA for the Progressive Conservatives.

In that role, he has advocated for tax cuts, for increased saving of energy revenues, for a lobbyist registry, for fixed election dates, against the 2005 Prosperity Bonus, and against same-sex marriage.

[14][15] This Bill was criticized by some public figures as legalizing discrimination against gays and lesbians, and failed to come to a vote due to procedural tactics employed by opposition members.

The SRD adopted a replacement policy which Morton contended complied with Métis hunting rights as set out in the Supreme Court of Canada's R v Powley decision.

[20] In September 2011, CBC revealed that Norton had been using a "nom de plume" – his first and middle names – Frederick Lee – as "covert email" while serving as minister of Sustainable Resource Development (SRD).

"[21] In a November 15, 2008 email, "Frederick Lee" directed his SRD staff to revise legislation relating to the potential land rights of Métis people.

[29] He also oversaw the opening of the Bow Habitat Station,[30][31] an aquatic ecosystem interpretive centre that promotes the education of stewardship to youth.

On January 15, 2010, Morton was sworn in as minister of finance and enterprise by Premier Ed Stelmach in a major cabinet shuffle.

[32] In this position, Morton discussed plans for dealing with Alberta's large deficit, criticized the Canada Health Transfer,[33] and released a joint statement with Quebec Minister of Finances and Revenue Raymond Bachand opposing the creation of a federal securities regulator.

Morton is currently an Executive-in-Residence at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and Senior Fellow, Energy and Environment, at the Manning Foundation.