To Make a Difference: A Memoir

Paul G. Thomas is the Duff Roblin Professor of Government at the
University of Manitoba, the author of Parliamentary Reform Through
Political Parties, and the co-author of Canadian Public Administration:
Problematical Perspectives.

In 1985, after several decades of Progressive Conservative rule,
Ontarians elected a minority Liberal government led by David Peterson. A
prominent and influential member of the Peterson cabinet was Ian Scott,
who served as attorney general. This moving memoir is a very readable
and informative account of Scott’s life before, during, and after his
entry into public office.

Scott was exposed to politics at an early age. On both the paternal and
maternal sides of his family, there was a lengthy history of political
involvement. Scott describes his school days and legal training, and his
law practice at a Toronto firm that included Andrew Brewin, who later
became a NDP Member of Parliament. Scott built a reputation as a
brilliant lawyer, arguing a number of major cases before the Supreme
Court. He might have entered the political arena earlier had he not
struggled to keep his private homosexual lifestyle separate from his
professional career. Eventually, in 1981, he ran unsuccessfully in
Toronto but came back in 1985 to win the St. George–St. David riding.

As a minority government from 1985 to 1987, the Liberals relied on an
agreement with the NDP on a legislative agenda in order to stay in
office for two years before the 1987 election gave the Liberals a
majority. During his two terms as the chief legal officer in the Liberal
government, Scott constructed an impressive record of accomplishments:
pay equity, freedom of information, court reform, intervenor funding for
public interest groups, and the negotiation of the Meech Lake Accord. In
the 1990, election the Peterson government was defeated by the NDP;
after three years in opposition, Scott resigned from the legislature, in
part because his partner was dying of AIDS. Early in 1994, Scott
suffered a stroke from which he is still recovering.