John Reynolds (Canadian politician) explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
John Reynolds
Term Start:December 12, 2001
Term End:May 20, 2002
Primeminister:Jean Chrétien
Predecessor:Stockwell Day
Successor:Stephen Harper
Office1:Interim Leader of the Canadian Alliance
Term Start1:December 11, 2001
Term End1:March 20, 2002
Predecessor1:Stockwell Day
Successor1:Stephen Harper
Office2:28th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Premier2:Bill Vander Zalm
Lieutenant Governor2:Robert Gordon Rogers
Term Start2:March 9, 1987
Term End2:November 1, 1989
Predecessor2:Kenneth Walter Davidson
Successor2:Stephen Rogers
Riding3:West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast
Parliament3:Canadian
Term Start3:June 2, 1997
Term End3:January 23, 2006
Predecessor3:Herb Grubel
Successor3:Blair Wilson
Assembly4:British Columbia Legislative
Constituency Am4:West Vancouver-Howe Sound
Term Start4:May 5, 1983
Term End4:October 17, 1991
Predecessor4:Allan Williams
Successor4:Jeremy Dalton[1]
Riding5:Burnaby—Richmond—Delta
Parliament5:Canadian
Term Start5:October 30, 1972
Term End5:May 9, 1977
Predecessor5:Tom Goode
Successor5:Tom Siddon (1978)
Birth Name:John Douglas Reynolds
Birth Date:January 19, 1942
Birth Place:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Profession:Businessman, manager, sales and marketing consultant
Party:Conservative (2003-present)
Canadian Alliance (2000-2003)
Reform (1997-2000)
Progressive Conservative (1972-1977)
Otherparty:BC Social Credit

John Douglas Reynolds (born January 19, 1942) is a former Canadian politician. He was the member of Parliament for the riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2006 and a former Federal Opposition Leader. He had also been an MP in the 1970s as well as a provincial politician in British Columbia in the 1980s and 1990s.

Life and career

He was first elected to Parliament as a candidate of the Progressive Conservatives in 1972 and was re-elected in 1974. He resigned in 1977 after a series of disagreements with Joe Clark.

Beginning in 1983, he was active in the Social Credit Party of British Columbia and served as speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly and as a cabinet minister (Minister of Environment). In 1986, he was a candidate at the Social Credit leadership convention coming in fifth. He remained in provincial politics until 1991 when he was defeated in his bid for re-election.

Reynolds returned to parliament in 1997 as a Reform MP and served as Chief Opposition Whip. He remained in this role when the Reform Party was folded into the Canadian Alliance. When Stockwell Day faced a revolt in his caucus in 2001 and Chuck Strahl resigned as House leader, Reynolds was named in his place. When Day resigned as Alliance leader, Reynolds was chosen as interim party leader and leader of the opposition and served until Stephen Harper was elected the new party leader.

Reynolds resigned as House leader on January 24, 2005, but continued as MP for his riding until his retirement at the 2006 federal election. He was the coordinator of the Conservative campaign in British Columbia. On the day after the election, which resulted in a Conservative minority government, Harper asked Reynolds to approach Liberal minister David Emerson about crossing the floor and serving as a minister in Harper's government. Emerson eventually accepted the offer, which triggered a firestorm of criticism. However, Reynolds, who had strongly criticized Belinda Stronach's switch from the Conservatives to the Liberals, told a suburban Vancouver newspaper that he was "very happy" that Emerson was a Conservative and claimed that the people of Emerson's left-leaning Vancouver riding got the better end of the bargain. "Instead of having someone in opposition," he said, "they have someone who is a cabinet minister of a new government."[2]

Reynolds supports the death penalty.[3]

Notes and References

  1. [West Vancouver-Capilano]
  2. Web site: The Powell River Peak . Zwire.com . 2010-04-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041643/http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16134029&BRD=1998&PAG=461&dept_id=221589&rfi=6 . 2007-09-30 .
  3. Web site: Alliance candidate 'misquoted' on death penalty . 2000-11-08 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230210082738/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/alliance-candidate-misquoted-on-death-penalty-1.211169 . 2023-02-10 . live .