P.E.I. is mourning the loss of political trailblazer Marion Reid

P.E.I. trailblazer Marion Reid, who died this week at 94, is being remembered for the major role she played in shattering glass ceilings in Island politics.

The flags in front of Province House are at half mast Friday to honour the political icon.

Catherine Callbeck, former Premier of Prince Edward Island said she feels “very privileged to have known her, and spent a considerable amount of time with her.”

Reid served as an MLA for a decade, she acted as deputy speaker and speaker, and she was the first ever woman to be Lieutenant Governor of P.E.I. and she was the first woman to hold that role in Atlantic Canada.

The Island’s current Lieutenant Governor says Reid was an inspiration.

Lieutenant Governor Antoinette Perry said she “would put her very close to our late Queen, when I went to Buckingham Palace and met her, that was sort of the apex, but Marion Reid, I looked up to her.”

Reid held the role of Lieutenant Governor in 1993 after the victory of then-premier Catherine Callbeck. Reid was one of the Famous 5, the five women in the highest legislative positions on P.E.I.

“It’s the first time that five women held those top 5 positions in the province. First time in Canada, and to my knowledge it hasn’t happened since, and Marion was very proud of that. That she was part of it,” Callbeck said.

That sparked a 30 year friendship between the two women. Callbeck was one of the first to offer her condolences to the Reid family.

Reid was a lifelong teacher and offered advice to women and girls in 2018 on the 25th anniversary of the Famous 5.

“They get a good education. That is vital for their happiness and for everything, for everything that they choose to do. They’ll be able to do that, and that’s important. Education is the key to that,” Reid said at the time