Gail Scott 1943-2025

I first met Gail Scott in the early 1970s when I was press secretary to Robert Stanfield so dealt with her and all members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. After graduating from Carleton she had spent a year in Paris studying and teaching. As a result when she returned to her birthplace of Ottawa she was fully bilingual.
The two dozen Press Gallery reporters from Quebec publications were all bilingual but hardly any of the English-language members of the Press Gallery spoke French. Scott’s other strong points were her manner and reporting skills – first for CBC Radio then CTV. She was also seen as a leader among her peers and was elected vice-president of the Press Gallery.
To her credit, Scott showed the path for other female journalists. By 1980 there was a larger group of women in the Press Gallery although it was still dominated by men. CBC and Radio–Canada employed a number of women including Anne Acland, Judy Morrison and Francine Bastien. Some other outlets also had women by that time who continued on to have illustrious careers in journalism including Mary Janigan of the Montreal Gazette, Linda Diebel of the Vancouver Sun and Carol Goar of the Toronto Star.
In 1973 Scott married Stanfield’s executive assistant Graham Scott. As yesterday’s obituary in the Globe and Mail said, “A proud professional and feminist, she appreciated the convenience of marrying another Scott: no debate about keeping her own name.”
Scott next became co-host of Canada AM on CTV. When I did book tours I was often a guest on that morning show and enjoyed the fact that she had actually read the particular book I was promoting, something few others on the tour did. Later her contribution reached even higher levels. I well remember attending a hearing in 1988 of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) where Scott was a most effective Commissioner.
But my best memory comes from the 1970s when my late wife Sandy and I visited Gail and Graham at Gail’s family cottage in Constance Bay. We went for a walk and, at some point, led by Gail, we all joined hands and started skipping on the path while raising our hands over our heads.
All these years later I can still feel the freedom and fun of that moment and will always remember Gail for not just delivering the news with clarity but also demonstrating the joy of life itself.