MNA defended anglo rights
Reed Scowen, a staunch defender of English language rights for Quebec’s anglophone community who served as a Liberal member of the Quebec legislature for nearly a decade, has died at the age of 88 in Toronto.
Scowen, who was born in Sherbrooke, was a successful businessman before entering politics. He was president and CEO of Perkins Paper Ltd. from 1956 to 1974.
He was first elected in the west- end Montreal riding of Notre- Dame- de- Grâce in a byelection in 1978 and was re-elected in 1981 and 1985.
News of his death came on Thursday night from John Parisella, who served as chief of staff to then- Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa. Parisella posted to his Twitter account.
“Reed Scowen was a modern politician of his age,” Parisella told the Montreal Gazette.
“He was an English-speaking MNA who fought for English rights, but at the same time was extremely sensitive to Quebec’s identity and Quebec’s role within the federation.
“He came into politics after a business career and tried to make a difference, and I think he did make a difference. He was essentially a politician that contrasted from the politicians that came from the English-speaking community before him. Many of them had defended the English-speaking community, but they did not play a major role within the overall francophone dynamic of Quebec.
“Reed was seen as a person who could and did,” Parisella said. “Bourassa had a lot of respect for him.”
Shortly after Scowen resigned as MNA in 1987, he was appointed Quebec’s delegate general to London, a post he held until 1991. He then served as the province’s delegate- general to New York from 1992 to 1995.
The bilingual Scowen also wrote several books about Quebec politics, including Time to Say Goodbye: Building a Better Canada Without Quebec.
The book, first published in French in 1999, then in English in 2007, caused a stir because the federalist Scowen concluded the time had finally come for Quebec and Canada to go their separate ways politically.
Parisella said the book was a reflection of Scowen’s disillusionment from decades of polarizing political battles fought in Quebec over language, referendums and constitutional reform.