Saying farewell to the most talented MPP you’ve never heard of

I’ve watched Queen’s Park for four decades (that’s 13 different elected classes of MPPs) and have some understanding of the 31 assemblies that predate those, all the way back to Confederation. So, I feel on pretty solid ground in saying there has never been an MPP like Tim Reid.

I know what you’re thinking. Who’s Tim Reid?

Well, you could be forgiven for not knowing because Reid served only one term at Queen’s Park, from 1967 to 1971, as the Liberal MPP for Scarborough East. And even then, he barely made it through, winning by one-tenth of a percentage point, or 216 votes.

Four years later, he got swept out by the Bill Davis juggernaut, losing to the Tory who would become the first ever female cabinet minister in Ontario history, Margaret Birch, by just 776 votes.

But before he got to the legislature, Reid did things that few Canadians had ever done[…] This is an excerpt. To read the full article, visit the TVO website.