Scott Jeffrey Reid (born January 25, 1964) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
politician. He has served in the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The House of Common ...
since 2000, and currently represents the
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
riding of
Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston as a member of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.
Personal life
Reid was born in
Hull,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. He holds a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
from
Carleton University
Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...
in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, and has written on federalism and the Canadian constitution. He was raised in his father's
Unitarian church, and remains a member of that faith.
[Edited Hansard, Canadian House of Commons, 28 June 2005.](_blank)
/ref> His mother is Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish.
Reid lives in Perth with his wife, Robyn Mulcahy. He separated from his earlier spouse, Lynda Cuff–Reid, early in 2013.
Reid also serves on the board of directors of Giant Tiger Stores Ltd., a family-owned business founded by his father, Gordon Reid.
Early life
Reid worked full-time in 1985–1989 for the Canadian merchandising chain Giant Tiger.
Reid focused primarily on intellectual activities before running for public office, working as an author, journalist, researcher and lecturer. In 1990–1991, he worked in Port Townsend
Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census.
It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition to ...
, Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, writing for the American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
journal ''Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
''. He reported on events in Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
between 1992 and 1994 for the ''Alberta Report
The ''Alberta Report'' was a conservative weekly newsmagazine based in Edmonton. It was founded and edited by Ted Byfield, and later run by his son, Link Byfield. It ceased publication in 2003.
Promoting his own successor publication in 2004, ...
'', and wrote opinion pieces for the ''National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'' newspaper in 1999 and 2000. During the 1997–98 academic year, he was an instructor at the University of Western Sydney
Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...
in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
As author
In the early nineties, Reid published two books: ''Canada Remapped: How the Partition of Quebec Will Reshape the Nation'' (1992) and ''Lament for a Notion: The Life and Death of Canada's Bilingual Dream'' (1993). In 2014, Reid and former Liberal MP Mario Silva co-edited a book, ''Tackling Hate: Combating Antisemitism: The Ottawa Protocol.''
As well, Reid has written chapters in a number of edited books, and published articles in magazines and academic journals. Many of his writings focus on subjects such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
, the role of the judiciary, property rights, national unity (with an emphasis on the consequences of Quebec separation) and Official Bilingualism
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
.
National unity and partition
In ''Canada Remapped'', Reid argues that the Canadian government should establish a clear legal framework to "govern the mechanics" of both provincial separation and the partition of a seceding province. While he does not endorse separation or partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
, he argues that such a legal framework may be necessary to prevent the sectarian violence of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
and the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
from surfacing in Canada, should Quebec voters choose to secede. He concludes the work by advising that a "legal, constitutional method" for provincial secession be entrenched in the Canadian Constitution
The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...
.
Official bilingualism
The title of Reid's second book, ''Lament for a Notion'', is an allusion to George Grant's 1965 classic, '' Lament for a Nation''. Reid asserts in this work that Canada's system of official bilingualism
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
has been an expensive failure, based on a utopian model developed by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada
The prime mini ...
rather than on what Reid suggests is the more practical model of "territorial bilingualism", proposed by the 1963–1970 Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (french: Commission royale d’enquête sur le bilinguisme et le biculturalisme, also known as the Bi and Bi Commission and the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission) was a Canadian royal commissio ...
(B&B Commission). He also argues that the existing system of bilingualism costs the Canadian economy four billion dollars every year to sustain.
Under Reid's model of territorial bilingualism, official language services would be extended only to those "relatively limited areas" of the country where "French or English is the language of the local majority or a strong local minority, but not of the provincial majority." He argues that this approach would involve "the smallest amount of disruption to individuals" of any proposed model of official bilingualism, and so describes it as the "most just" approach from a utilitarian point of view.
''Lament for a Notion'' received mixed reviews in the Canadian press. The ''Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' ran a strongly negative review by George Tombs, who rejected Reid's calculations of the cost of official bilingualism as arbitrary and unreliable. A subsequent review in the literary journal ''Books in Canada
''Books in Canada'' was a monthly magazine that reviewed Canadian literature, published in print form between 1971 and 2008. In its heyday it was the most influential literary magazine in Canada.
Foundation
One of the co-founders of ''Books in Ca ...
'' described Reid's work as narrowly ideological; this review included the line, "Reid's notion of justice is a familiar one: justice is whatever the marketplace provides; injustice is whatever government does."
Other reviews were more positive. Denis Smith wrote in the ''Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' that ''Lament'' was a "hard-headed, fair and devastating account" of the existing system of official bilingualism, adding that its recommendations were "sensible" and "very difficult to refute". The ''Calgary Herald
The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network.
History
''The ...
'' described the book as “a remarkable study: Informed, provocative, even visionary”.
On the Constitution and Charter of Rights
In a 1996 essay, "Penumbras for the People" (1996), Reid advocated the adoption of a law that would permit Parliament to invoke Section 33 of the ''Charter of Rights'' (the so-called "Notwithstanding Clause
Section 33 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause (french: clause dérogatoire, links=no or ), sometimes referred to as the override power, and ...
", which permits Parliament and the provincial legislatures to re-enact laws that have been struck down by the courts as being in violation of the Charter), only if its use had first been authorized in a national referendum. In a follow-up article written for the ''National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'' in 1999, Reid argued that this approach would empower the Canadian electorate, and "reduce the power of the courts to make arbitrary judgments as to the meaning of vaguely drafted Charter rights".
Reid further argued that this "democratization" of the Notwithstanding Clause would provide greater clarity to Section 1 of the ''Charter of Rights'', which permits laws to remain in effect even if they infringe on Charter-protected rights, as long as the infringements are (to use the words used in Section 1) "reasonable" and "can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". He wrote that it is difficult for judges to determine which infringements are "demonstrably justified", and that "one can scarcely imagine a more appropriate way of demonstrably justifying what constitutes a reasonable limit on rights in a free and democratic society," than by popular referendums.
Electoral reform
Reid's first involvement with this issue took place in 1997, when he was the researcher assigned to a Reform Party task force on electoral reform.[Scott Reid, “The Road to Electoral Reform”, ''Canadian Parliamentary Review'', Autumn 2005, p. 8.] From 2004 to 2005, Reid served on a House of Commons committee studying electoral reform, and authored a dissenting report on behalf of Conservative MPs, advocating that any change to the electoral system should be designed by a Citizens’ Assembly on the model used the previous year in British Columbia. In a 2005 article in the ''Canadian Parliamentary Review'', Reid argued that Canada should choose between different electoral models using “a preferential referendum whereby voters would place a “1” on the ballot beside their preferred option, a “2” beside the option that they like second-best, and so on. If no single option won a majority of the votes, the least-favoured option would be dropped from the ballot, and the ballots of voters who had chosen this option as their first preference would be redistributed to the options that had been their respective second choices. This process would continue until a single option achieves a clear majority."
Political advisor (1994–2000)
Reid served as a constitutional advisor to Reform Party leader Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning (born June 10, 1942) is a Canadian retired politician. He was the founder and the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance in 2000 which in tur ...
in the 1990s, and was the Senior Researcher for the parliamentary caucus of the Reform Party from 1994 to 1997. After the formation of the Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
in 2000, he worked as a speechwriter and organizer in Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (born August 16, 1950) is a Canadian former politician who led the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2001, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.
A provincial cabinet minister from Alberta, Day served as minister ...
's leadership campaign. In the same year, Reid criticized Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.
Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...
's ''Clarity Act
The ''Clarity Act'' (french: Loi sur la clarté référendaire) (known as Bill C-20 before it became law) (the act) is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would ent ...
'' as failing to provide a clear framework for future referendums on Quebec separatism.
Opposition MP (2000–2006)
Reid was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2000 federal election as a member of the Canadian Alliance. He narrowly defeated Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
incumbent Ian Murray in the riding of Lanark—Carleton to become one of only two Alliance representatives from Ontario. After the election, he was appointed as Alliance critic for Intergovernmental Affairs (including official languages) and served in 2001–02 as the vice-chair of the Standing Joint Committee of the House of Commons and Senate on Official Languages.
Reid was Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
's primary Ontario organizer in 2002, during Harper's successful challenge against Stockwell Day for the Alliance leadership. Reid was part of the five-person transition team that arranged for Harper to assume the leadership, following Harper's March 2002 victory. The following year, he was appointed as a lead negotiator for the Alliance in the merger talks with the Progressive Conservative Party that led to the creation of the Conservative Party of Canada.
For the 2004 election campaign, Reid transferred to the riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington. Early in the contest, he provoked controversy by re-asserting that official bilingualism is too broadly applied in Canada and that the policy should be reviewed by the House of Commons and Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Standing Committees on Official Languages. The comment provoked an immediate reaction from Prime Minister Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son o ...
, who warned that Reid's proposals reflected “the kind of Canada that Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
wants."[“Bad for democracy in any language.” Unsigned editorial, ''Ottawa Citizen'', May 29, 2004.] Georges Arès, the president of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, also expressed concern. Reid clarified that his views did not represent Conservative Party policy, and he resigned as the party's official languages critic later the same day.
Some in the media felt that both the controversy and Reid's reaction had been overblown. An editorial in the ''National Post'' argued that “perhaps no one in Parliament understands the Official Languages Act better than Scott Reid,” and expressed the hope that Reid would soon “be restored to that portfolio, either as critic or minister, after the election is over.” An ''Ottawa Citizen'' editorial stated that “the level of political debate in Canada has plunged again with the verbal attack on ... Scott Reid.”
The controversy did not hurt Reid's chances for re-election; he defeated Liberal incumbent Larry McCormick by over 10,000 votes. The Liberals were cut down to a minority government in the 38th Canadian parliament, and Reid remained on the Official Opposition
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
front bench as his party's critic for Democratic Reform and for Fednor (Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario).
Government MP (2006–2015)
Reid was re-elected in the 2006 federal election, in which the Conservatives won a minority government. He served as deputy Government House Leader
{{Politics of Canada
In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...
.
While an opposition MP, Reid had argued that returning officers in elections should be appointed by a non-partisan agency instead of the government. This measure was included in the Harper government's ''Accountability Act'', introduced in 2006. In May of the same year, Reid brought forward a motion to prevent the Federal Ethics Commissioner from making public the identities of employers of dependent children of Members of Parliament. The Commissioner had been given this power to safeguard against conflict-of-interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
situations, but Reid and other MPs argued that it was a violation of privacy.
Reid proposed several amendments at the Conservative Party's 2008 convention in Winnipeg. Two of his amendments, which would have changed the weighting of ridings in leadership elections, were defeated. Two other amendments to make the party more democratic were passed easily: one calls for members of the party's National Council to be elected by preferential ballot, and the other mandates that postal ballots be used for leadership elections.
Return to opposition (2015–present)
In the 2015 federal election, the Conservatives were removed from power. Reid was re-elected from Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, essentially a reconfigured version of his old riding, with only a 14.1% margin of victory—his smallest margin of victory since his initial election to the House of Commons in 2000.
Reid was subsequently named to the House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform, and served as one of the two vice-chairs of the committee. He lost his seat on the Human Rights subcommittee, but retained his membership on the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, and was named Conservative critic for the Democratic Institutions portfolio.
At the Conservative Party's 2016 national convention, Reid participated in an effort to amend the party constitution so that Rona Ambrose
Ronalee Ambrose Veitch ( , née Chapchuk; born March 15, 1969) is a Canadian former politician who was interim leader of the Conservative Party and the leader of the Opposition between 2015 and 2017. She was the Conservative Party member of ...
, then the interim party leader, would be permitted to become a candidate in the party's 2017 leadership race. Reid afterward described Ambrose as "the best prime minister Canada never had." Subsequently, however, he supported Andrew Scheer's leadership campaign.
Reid endorsed Leslyn Lewis
Leslyn Lewis (born December 2, 1970) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Haldimand—Norfolk since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, Lewis contested the party leadership in the 2020 ...
in the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election.
Opposition to COVID-19 emergency measures
On 24 March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
raged, the Commons sat briefly "at noon as scheduled and then suspended for behind-the-scenes negotiations". Reid "defied his own party orders to stay away from Ottawa" in order that he ensure that legislation outlining COVID-19 relief measures did not receive unanimous consent. Reid had referred to the legislation in a blog post as a "Henry VIII Bill" for allowing the executive to function without the approval of Parliament. In the event, ''Hansard
''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...
'' has no record on that date of his full-throated dissent. He also stated that his objection was completely procedural, and that he had no objection to the bill provided it was delivered to MPs with sufficient time to read and understand it.
Ideology
Reid describes himself as more libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
than conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, and holds a combination of civil libertarian
Civil libertarianism is a strain of political thought that supports civil liberties, or which emphasizes the supremacy of individual rights and personal freedoms over and against any kind of authority (such as a state, a corporation, social no ...
and socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
views. In 2001 he published an article in Policy Options arguing that the federal government should turn over to individual provinces the power to decide whether marijuana would be made legal within their own boundaries. (Reid noted that this was how Canada had dealt with the issue of alcohol prohibition a century earlier, and maintained that this approach "would be the most effective method of reflecting in Canadian law our culturally based, and therefore evolving, views towards drugs.") On November 27, 2017, Reid was the only MP to break party ranks and vote in support of C-45, a bill that would eventually legalize cannabis.
In 2001, he was one of four Canadian Alliance MPs to break party ranks and vote against the Chrétien government's '' Anti-Terrorism Act'', arguing that it violated traditional civil liberties and should be time-limited by a "Sunset Clause".
Reid opposes both capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
and abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
, but has voted on such issues based on the preferences of his constituents, rather than on the basis of his own views. Reid voted against the Martin government's same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
legislation in 2005, after consulting his constituents on the issue (although he also argued that the bill infringed upon religious rights). In 2012, he voted against re-opening the abortion debate, despite his own pro-life views, after conducting another consultation.
Reid supports marijuana legalization
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...
and was the only Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
MP to vote in favour of the Cannabis Act
The ''Cannabis Act'' (also known as Bill C-45) is a law which legalized recreational cannabis use in Canada in combination with its companion legislation Bill C-46, ''An Act to Amend the Criminal Code''. The law is a milestone in the legal hi ...
, the law which legalized recreational cannabis use nationwide in Canada.
Human rights
During his first two terms as an MP, Reid became closely associated with efforts to end the persecution of Falun Gong
Falun Gong (, ) or Falun Dafa (; literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a new religious movement.Junker, Andrew. 2019. ''Becoming Activists in Global China: Social Movements in the Chinese Diaspora'', pp. 23–24, 33, 119 ...
practitioners in the People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. A motion (M-236) drafted by Reid, which called upon Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.
Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...
to raise the issue of thirteen imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners with close family ties to Canada, was unanimously adopted by the House of Commons on October 24, 2002. This action has been credited with causing the release of some of the prisoners and their subsequent emigration to Canada. Despite Reid's efforts, the Canadian immigration department declined to admit Mingli Lin, a prisoner who was named in Motion M-236, and Lin was re-arrested in 2005.
Between 2007 and 2015, Reid chaired the International Human Rights subcommittee of the House Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs ( no, Utenrikskomiteen) is a defunct committee of the Norwegian Parliament responsible for matters related to foreign policy, development assistance, international agreements, Svalbard and the Norwegian polar ...
.
Reid chaired the steering committee of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA), a multi-partisan group of MPs which organized an international conference on antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
in Ottawa in 2010, and was vice-chair of the CPCCA's inquiry panel into domestic antisemitism within Canada, which published its report in 2011.
Provincial politics
Reid was a founding member of the Lanark Landowners Association, the first of the county-based property rights associations that developed into the Ontario Landowners Association. A longtime friend and supporter of the OLA's first president, Randy Hillier
Randy Alexander Hillier (born 1958) is a Canadian politician who served as a Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada), member of provincial parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007-2022. Hillier represented the riding ...
, Reid encouraged Hillier to run for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...
candidacy for the 2007 provincial election in Reid's riding of in Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington. Prior to the nomination, some members of the provincial party expressed concern about Hillier's candidacy, and the ''Toronto Star'' speculated that the party might disqualify him. Reid responded that he would be "very disappointed" if Hillier were prevented from running, adding "I can't think of anything more dangerous to our prospects f winning in this riding
F, or f, is the sixth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet#Let ...
. In October 2007, Hillier was elected MPP for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington by a narrow margin. In 2009, Reid was one of two Ontario MPs to endorse Randy Hillier's bid for the provincial PC leadership.
Other initiatives
* Reid has held six "constituency referendums" in which he asked his constituents how to vote on an important issue: This includes votes on the Anti-Terrorism Act (2001), the Species at Risk Act
The ''Species at Risk Act'' (SARA) (the ''Act'') is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological D ...
(2002), the Civil Marriage Act
The ''Civil Marriage Act'' is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edward ...
(2005) and a parliamentary motion on reopening the abortion debate (2012). He has then voted as instructed by constituents. On two of these occasions, this caused him to vote against his party.
* Each year, Reid donates to charity the proceeds of the $20,000 pay raise that MPs voted themselves in 2001. Each year the money is used to purchase defibrillators
Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''co ...
for use in hockey rinks, seniors centres, and local police forces in his riding. Reid explained his decision to make the donations by saying, "MPs were making $109,000 at the time. If a single guy living in a small town can't get by on $109,000, he's not trying too hard."
* In an annual survey conducted by the ''Hill Times
''The Hill Times'' is a Canadian twice-weekly newspaper and daily news website, published in Ottawa, Ontario, which covers the Parliament of Canada, the federal government, and other federal political news. Founded in 1989 by Ross Dickson and Jim ...
'' newspaper in May 2006, Reid was voted second in the "Most Generous MP" category, second in the "Most Fun to Work For" category, third in the "Throws the Best Parties" category, and second in the "Worst-Dressed Male MP" category. Reid's dress habits have since met with greater media approval; in 2007 Reid told the ''Hill Times'' that he thought Fred Astaire and the Duke of Windsor were "the two best-dressed men of the 20th century," and in the December 2013 issue of ''iPolitics'', Reid was cited as one of the "Top 10 list of the best dressed MPs, chosen for their extra thought on style...."
* Each June since 2003, Reid has held an artisanal beer tasting
Beer tasting is a way to learn more about the history, ingredients and production of beer as well as different beer styles, hops, yeast and beer presentation. A common way is to analyse the appearance, smell and taste of the beer. Then a final judg ...
event on Parliament Hill. Reid says the event "promotes small-scale, artisanal, value-added production that is ... closely associated with the land, agriculture, recapturing the traditional way of doing things." Despite this, Reid has the lowest hospitality budget in the House of Commons, prompting CBC reporter Terry Milewski
Terry Milewski (born 1949) is a Canadian journalist, who was the senior correspondent for CBC News until his retirement in 2016.
Milewski has reported in television, radio, and print media, from many places around the world. Assignments have in ...
to brand Reid the “supreme leader of the Tightwads.”
Electoral record
References
External links
Scott Reid's website
Voting record in House of Commons
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Scott
1964 births
Living people
Canadian libertarians
Canadian Unitarians
Canadian people of Jewish descent
Carleton University alumni
Conservative Party of Canada MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
People from Carleton Place
Politicians from Gatineau
21st-century Canadian politicians