William Earl "Bill" Reid (August 13, 1934 – May 28, 2013) was a Canadian politician. He was a political figure in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada known locally as "Mr. Surrey". He represented

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

from 1983 to 1986 and

Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia in 1986 only. The riding's predecessor was the Surrey riding, which first appeared in the 1966 election. Its successor ridings were Surr ...

from 1986 to 1991 in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

as a Social Credit member. "That was the best job I ever had in my whole life," said Reid. "I was the Minister of Tourism from '86 to '91, when

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

was on and we had the best place in the world to visit."

Early years

Reid was born in

Nelson, British Columbia Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of resto ...

, the son of William Earl Reid and Dolly Renwick, and was educated in Chilliwack. Prior to politics, he owned and operated a car dealership in Surrey.

Local politics

He served as an alderman for

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

from 1973 to 1978. Reid also was chairman of the board for the Metro Transit Authority.

Provincial politics

Reid ran in the 1972 provincial elections as a Progressive Conservative candidate for

, but did not win. He later joined the Social Credit Party and won in the Surrey riding in 1983. With only one riding, Reid was responsible for the entire city of Surrey at that time. Reid served as government

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in the provincial assembly. Reid also served in the provincial cabinet as

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

, a position that had an especially high-profile during

. In 1989, Reid was fired from cabinet after it was discovered he had funnelled a $277,000 lottery grant to two friends, and the matter was referred to the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

's office. The ministry declined to lay charges, which erupted into a scandal after allegations were made that Attorney General

Bud Smith Robert Allan "Bud" Smith (born October 23, 1979) is an American retired baseball pitcher. Smith was active at the major league level in 2001 and 2002, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. Minor leagues In 2000, Smith led the minor league Cardin ...

had improperly intervened in the proceedings.

Final decades and legacy

Reid retired from provincial politics in 1991 and devoted the remainder of his life to his community. In 2012, Reid was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee award, which was given to Canadians who have made significant contributions to their communities. The City of Surrey named him Good Citizen of the Year in 2013 due to 50 years of community service including work with societies such as

Cloverdale Cloverdale may refer to: Place names ;Australia *Cloverdale, Western Australia ;Canada *Cloverdale, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood *Cloverdale, Surrey, British Columbia * Cloverdale, New Brunswick * Cloverdale, Nova Scotia *Cloverdale Mall in T ...

Chamber of Commerce, Surrey Spirit of B.C. committee, Surrey Heritage Society and Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association. Bill Reid Place, a transitional shelter was constructed in Cloverdale. Reid died at the age of 78 on May 28, 2013, from a rare cancer. In 2014, the city planned three legacy projects: * renaming Cloverdale Millennium Amphitheatre to Bill Reid Millennium Ampitheathre * naming a portion 62nd Avenue as Bill Reid Way * a public sculpture (estimated cost $70,000) by artist Paul Slipper.City minutes
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, William E 1934 births 2013 deaths British Columbia municipal councillors British Columbia Conservative Party candidates in British Columbia provincial elections British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Deaths from cancer in British Columbia Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia People from Nelson, British Columbia People from Surrey, British Columbia Tourism ministers of British Columbia 20th-century Canadian politicians