Feature Article July 29, 2004
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Scott Reid survives bilingualism remarks and is named to Conservative Shadow Cabinetby Jeff Green
Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington MP Scott Reid was widely seen as a potential cabinet minister back in the heady (for the Conservatives) early days of the recent federal election. But that was before May 27, the day Reid made national headlines for his comments on official bilingualism and he resigned as party critic for bilingualism.
While the story was quickly overshadowed by others, it was later followed by controversial remarks by other Conservative candidates on issues such as abortion rights, the power of the supreme court and other issues by other candidates. These gave the Liberals a chance to argue that the Conservatives were a dangerous option for the country, and the Liberals ended up holding on, albeit tenuously, to power with a minority government.
The controversy over his position about bilingualism came as a surprise to Reid, who was only stating a position that had been accepted by the Alliance party, based as it was on his own book, Lament for a Notion, which detailed many of the inefficiencies of institutional bilingualism.
While most of the Conservative MPs, such as Alberta MP Randy White and MP Cheryl Gallant from our neighbouring riding of Renfrew-Nippissing, who made statements that were used by the Liberals to label the new Conservative party as extreme, have been dumped from the shadow cabinet, Scott Reid has been given the role of critic for the FedNor program.
FedNor stands for Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario. It is a division of the Ministry of Industry, which is now presided over by David Emerson, one of the few Liberal star candidates from British Columbia who actually won their seat.
FedNor is mandated to serve a vast area which begins just north of Reids LFL&A riding, but it is responsible for the Community Futures Program, of which there are three branches in the riding. As well, a $10 million economic development fund for Eastern Ontario that was established by the Liberal party in the run up to the election, is being administered by the FedNor program.
For his part, in accepting the shadow cabinet position, Scott Reid said As the MP for one of Ontarios most rural ridings, I am tremendously excited at the opportunities that this opens up for me to serve as a spokesman for rural and remote communities across the province. The mandate that I have been given by the Conservative Party and by Stephen Harper will ensure that there is careful, Ontario-based scrutiny of programs designed for the needs of Ontario.
The Conservative Party has been a harsh in its criticism of economic development programs, and in an interview with the Frontenac News during the election campaign, Scott Reid said Im not sure the whole idea of regional development has given much to this region and to regions in the vicinity of here. He said a Conservative government would look at the entire area of regional development to make sure it is based on need rather than other considerations.
Although Scott Reid and the Conservatives will not be given the opportunity to revamp the area of Regional Development, Reid himself will have a chance to look at how FedNor is adapted to serve Eastern Ontario.
During the previous term, Scott Reid had various roles as opposition critic under the Alliance banner, including Infrastructure, Bilingualism, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Direct Democracy.
Being critic for FedNor may seem like a demotion after serving as intergovernmental affairs critic, but at least Reid has not had his role completely eliminated by Stephen Harper in the latters attempt to make the party seem palatable to Liberal leaning voters as the minority government begins its work this fall.
Reid will join eight other Ontario MPs in the Shadow Cabinet.
