View source for George Scott Wallace

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1929–2011)}}
{{About||other people named George Wallace|George Wallace (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = George Scott Wallace
| office              = Member of the Legislative Assembly of [[British Columbia Legislative Assembly|British Columbia]] for [[Oak Bay (electoral district)|Oak Bay]]
| termstart           = 27 August 1969
| termend             = 31 December 1977
| office2             = Alderman on the Oak Bay Municipal Council
| termstart2          = 1967
| termend2            = 1969
| party               = [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative Party]]<br>
[[British Columbia Progressive Conservative Party|Progressive Conservative Party]] (until 1972)<br>[[British Columbia Social Credit Party|Social Credit]] (until 1971)
| profession          = Physician
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1929|8|9}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2011|10|15|1929|8|9}}
| death_place         = [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], [[British Columbia]]
| birth_place         = [[Leven, Fife]], [[Scotland]]
}}
'''George Scott Wallace''' (9 August 1929 &ndash; 15 October 2011) was a British Columbia physician and politician.

Wallace was born in Leven, Fife, Scotland, and attended the Edinburgh University Medical School from 1947 to 1952. Wallace came to Canada in 1957 and opened a general practice in Victoria in 1961. He served as an alderman from 1967 to 1969 on the Oak Bay Municipal Council and was elected in the [[1969 British Columbia general election|1969 general election]] as a [[British Columbia Social Credit Party|Social Credit]] Member of the [[British Columbia Legislative Assembly]] for [[Oak Bay (electoral district)|Oak Bay]].<ref name=wallace/>

Wallace [[crossed the floor]] to join the [[British Columbia Progressive Conservative Party]] in 1971<ref name=wilson>Wilson, Deborah, "Former MLA backs Rodriguez Would consider helping woman, says retired doctor," ''Globe and Mail'', 18 February 1993</ref> and was re-elected as a Tory in the [[1972 British Columbia general election|1972 general election]]. He was elected leader of the party in 1973, after the previous party leader failed to win a seat,<ref name=wilson/> and led it through the [[1975 British Columbia general election|1975 general election]] in which he was the only Tory MLA to win a seat. He stepped down as party leader in July, 1977<ref name=leaders>Legislative Library of British Columbia, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110220034808/http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/reference/partyleaders.pdf Party Leaders in British Columbia 1900-]'', 2000, updated 2005</ref> and retired from the legislature on 31 December 1977 in order to return to his medical practice.<ref name=wallace>Clarke, John, "Wallace quitting politics," ''Globe and Mail'', 24 December 1977</ref>

In 1993, he announced that he was willing to help terminally ill [[Sue Rodriguez]] end her life if the courts rejected her attempt to challenge the law banning [[assisted suicide]].<ref name=wilson/> He subsequently served as medical advisor to the Right to Die Society.<ref>Osterman, Cynthia, "Right-to-die case sparks Canadian soul-searching," ''Reuters'', 15 December 1993</ref> Rodriguez died in February 1994 with the assistance of an anonymous physician.<ref>Osterman, Cynthia, "Police hunt mystery doctor in assisted suicide," ''Reuters'', 16 February 1994</ref>

Wallace died, aged 82, in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{BC Con Leaders}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, George Scott}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs]]
[[Category:British Columbia Conservative Party leaders]]
[[Category:British Columbia Conservative Party MLAs]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]]

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