Scott-Wallace was a member of the Executive Council of New Brunswick, serving as Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, as well as Minister responsible for Women's Equality in the cabinet of Blaine Higgs.[2] She is the first woman to be elected to represent the riding of Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins.
Early life
After growing up in Belleisle and graduating from Belleisle Regional High School, Scott-Wallace attended Mount Allison University's political science program before transferring to the journalism program at Holland College.[3] From there, she launched a 25-year career as a journalist, writing for the Kings County Record and Telegraph-Journal for the bulk of her career.[3]
Political career
First election
Following the retirement of long-time Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins MLA Bruce Northrup, Scott-Wallace secured the Progressive Conservative nomination for the riding in the 2020 New Brunswick general election.[4] Despite the riding being known as a conservative stronghold, the unpopularity of scrapped healthcare reform proposals left the party's standing in the region to be questioned.[4] Assuring voters that the proposed changes would not be re-tabled by her party, Scott-Wallace was able to win Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins with a majority of the vote. In doing so, she became the first woman to represent the riding in the provincial legislature.
2020–present: Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture
As a freshman in the legislature, Premier Blaine Higgs appointed Scott-Wallace to his cabinet as Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture on September 29, 2020.[5] She took over the mandate in the midst of the tourism sector's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Scott-Wallace was also appointed Minister responsible for Women's Equality[5]
In 2024, Scott-Wallace and her deputy minister came under scrutiny from opposition members as a result of a week-long vacation they took to the United Kingdom and France. The trip, which had a total cost of CA$22,527 in taxpayer funds paid by the government, saw the staffers stay at two luxury hotels while additionally billing the government for a British Museum tour as well as for riding the London Eye. The trips, described as "Tourism Mission — Europe" on its financial statement, was critiqued as "a vacation with a few meetings here and there to justify it" by Liberal critic of tourism Isabelle Thériault.[6][7] Scott-Wallace came under further scrutiny for spending $5,200 in taxpayer dollars to attend a cruise ship conference in Miami, Florida.[8]
