John Reynolds (Canadian politician)

John Douglas Reynolds PC (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.

The Honourable
John Reynolds
PC
Reynolds in 2006
Leader of the Opposition
In office
December 12, 2001 – May 20, 2002
Preceded byStockwell Day
Succeeded byStephen Harper
Interim Leader of the Canadian Alliance
In office
December 11, 2001 – March 20, 2002
Preceded byStockwell Day
Succeeded byStephen Harper
28th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
In office
March 9, 1987 – November 1, 1989
PremierBill Vander Zalm
Lieutenant GovernorRobert Gordon Rogers
Preceded byKenneth Walter Davidson
Succeeded byStephen Rogers
Member of Parliament
for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast
In office
June 2, 1997 – January 23, 2006
Preceded byHerb Grubel
Succeeded byBlair Wilson
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for West Vancouver-Howe Sound
In office
May 5, 1983 – October 17, 1991
Preceded byAllan Williams
Succeeded byJeremy Dalton[1]
Member of Parliament
for Burnaby—Richmond—Delta
In office
October 30, 1972 – May 9, 1977
Preceded byTom Goode
Succeeded byTom Siddon (1978)
Personal details
Born
John Douglas Reynolds

(1942-01-19) January 19, 1942
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyConservative (2003-present)
Canadian Alliance (2000-2003)
Reform (1997-2000)
Progressive Conservative (1972-1977)
Other political
affiliations		BC Social Credit
ProfessionBusinessman, manager, sales and marketing consultant

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. 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]

References
  1. West Vancouver-Capilano
  2. "The Powell River Peak". Zwire.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  3. "Alliance candidate 'misquoted' on death penalty". CBC News. 2000-11-08. Archived from the original on 2023-02-10.
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