Ian Scott

Ian G. Scott (born July 13, 1934 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. Scott was the Attorney-General of Ontario in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1985 to 1990 and was with Robert Nixon and Sean Conway considered to be one of the three top ministers in the Peterson cabinet.

Scott was born to a family with extensive political connections. One of his paternal great-grandfathers, Richard William Scott, was a prominent Canadian politician in the nineteenth century, and served for a time as government leader in the Canadian Senate. His other paternal great-grandfather was W.W. Sullivan, Premier of Prince Edward Island from 1879 to 1889. Moreover, one of his maternal great-grandfathers was Andrew G. Blair, who served as Premier of New Brunswick from 1883 to 1896, when he was called to join Richard Scott on the Liberal benches of the Senate. His father and paternal grandfather were also active supporters of the Liberal Party. In 1948, while still a schoolboy, Ian Scott co-wrote a number of speeches for Brooke Claxton, Liberal Minister of National Defence.

Scott was educated at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto, where his teachers included Marshall McLuhan and Frank Underhill. He served as president of the student council in his last year. After graduating, he earned a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and joined the firm of Cameron, Brewin, Weldon, McCallum and Skells, with the support of Andrew Brewin (later a New Democratic Party MP). The firm was subsequently renamed as Cameron, Brewin and Scott.

In addition to his courtroom work, Scott began teaching civil procedure at the University of Toronto Law School in 1968. One of his pupils was Bob Rae, whom he canvassed for in a 1978 by-election for the Canadian House of Commons. In 1974, Scott worked for the Berger Commission, studying the impact of pipeline development on aboriginal Canadians in the Northwest Territories.

Scott first ran for public office in the provincial election of 1981. He once described his political views as "left of liberal" and had considered running for the Ontario New Democratic Party, but was unimpressed with the leadership abilities of Michael Cassidy. An opponent of the Progressive Conservative regime which had governed Ontario since 1943, Scott instead chose to run for the Ontario Liberal Party under Stuart Smith, in the downtown Toronto riding of St. David. He lost to Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Margaret Scrivener by 1,022 votes.

Scott was, by his own admission, disillusioned with the direction of the Liberal Party in the early 1980s. He was not initially a supporter of David Peterson, who replaced Smith as Liberal leader in 1982 and whom Scott considered too far to the right. Scott had previously promised to run in the 1985 provincial election, but planned to back out of this promise in 1984. He reconsidered, however, and was again the Liberal candidate in St. David.

The 1985 election was a watershed moment in Ontario politics. The Progressive Conservatives were reduced to a minority government, and the Liberals made considerable electoral inroads throughout the province. Scott was elected in St. David, defeating Tory candidate and personal friend Julian Porter by about 3,500 votes. After the election, Scott was one of the Liberal envoys who negotiated an accord with the NDP which allowed the two parties to defeat the Tories in a motion of non-confidence, and then allowed the Liberals to form a minority government with NDP support for two years. He was appointed Attorney General and Minister responsible for Native Affairs on June 26, 1985, and served in these positions throughout the Peterson administration. He was also the province's minister responsible for Women's Issues and Race Relations from 1985 to 1987, and was an acting Solicitor General on two occasions. In the 1987 provincial election, he was easily re-elected in the redistributed riding of St. George—St. David defeating incumbent St. George MPP Susan Fish of the Progressive Conservatives.

Scott had been a renowned constitutional lawyer prior to entering politics and as Attorney-General he took the unusual step of appearing in court on several occasions to personally argue the government's case. He was considered an activist attorney-general and instituted a number of reforms including the abolition of appointments as Queen's Counsel, the introduction of Ontario's first Freedom of Information legislation and the introduction of an independent panel to recommend judicial appointments (previously, the process had been seen as largely driven by patronage). He also oversaw the introduction of pay equity in the public sector, and introduced an amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code to extend protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Scott was narrowly re-elected in the 1990 Ontario election that defeated the Peterson government. Unhappy in opposition, Scott resigned his seat in the legislature in 1992. He accepted a teaching position at York University and remained in the public eye as a political panelist on television, until a devestating stroke in 1993 made speech difficult for him. He developed aphasia following the stroke, and was forced to end his legal career.

He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1996. In the same year, he supported Joseph Cordiano's unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Scott's sexual orientation was an open secret during his time in politics though the media respected his privacy and did not report the fact that he was gay or in a long term same-sex relationship. He came under increasing pressure to come out of the closet, particularly from many of his consituents in St. George--St. David which includes the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, home to Canada's largest gay and lesbian community. Though asked about his sexual orientation at all candidates meetings during the 1990 provincial election, particularly as Keith Norton, the Tory candidate, was openly gay, Scott declined to comment saying that it was a private matter.

Since retiring from politics, Scott has come out of the closet, publicly acknowledging his long term relationship for the first time in 1993, upon the death of his partner Kim Yakabuski (son of former Progressive Conservative MPP Paul Yakabuski and the brother of current Progressive Conservative MPP John Yakabuski).

Scott opposed same-sex marriage for most of his life, on the grounds that it reflected the values of a society which for years treated homosexuals as pariahs. More recently, he has expressed regret that his government did not introduce spousal benefits for same-sex couples.

In 2001, he published his memoirs, To Make A Difference, co-written with Neil McCormick.

External links

• Ian Scott's Private Love excerpt from Scott's memoirs dealing with his decision to keep his same-sex relationship a secret during his time in public life.