Scott was born on August 1, 1899, inQuebec City, the sixth of seven children. His father wasFrederick George Scott, "anAnglican priest, minor poet and staunch advocate of the civilizing tradition of imperial Britain, who instilled in his son a commitment to serve mankind, a love for the regenerative balance of the Laurentian landscape and a firm respect for the social order."[1] He witnessed the riots in the city during theConscription Crisis of 1917.
Scott returned to Canada, settled inMontreal, studied law atMcGill University, and eventually joined thelaw faculty as a professor. While at McGill, Scott became a member of theMontreal Group ofmodernist poets, a circle that also includedLeon Edel,John Glassco, andA. J. M. Smith.[2]Scott and Smith became lifelong friends.[1] Scott contributed to theMcGill Daily Literary Supplement, which Smith edited; when that folded in 1925, he and Smith founded and edited theMcGill Fortnightly Review. After theReview folded, Scott helped found and briefly co-editedThe Canadian Mercury.[citation needed] Scott, assisted by Smith andLeo Kennedy, also anonymously edited the modernist poetry anthologyNew Provinces (in which he published ten poems), which was published in 1936.[3]
TheGreat Depression greatly disturbed Scott; he founded theLeague for Social Reconstruction (LSR) with the historianFrank Underhill to advocatesocialist solutions in a Canadian context. Through the LSR, Scott became an influential figure in theCanadian socialist movement. He was a founding member of theCo-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and a contributor to that party'sRegina Manifesto. He also edited a book advocatingSocial Planning for Canada (1935).[1] In 1943, he co-authoredMake This Your Canada, which spelled out the CCF national programme, withDavid Lewis. Scott was elected national chairman of the CCF in 1942, and would serve until 1950.[1]
In March 1942 Scott co-founded a literary magazine,Preview, with the Montreal poetPatrick Anderson. Like the earlier Montreal Group publications, "Preview's orientation wascosmopolitan; its members looked largely towards the English poets of the 1930s for inspiration."[4]
In 1950–1951, Scott cofoundedRecherches sociales, a study group concerned with French–English relations. He began translating French-Canadian poetry.[1]
In 1952, he served as aUnited Nations technical assistance resident representative inBurma to help build a socialist state in that country.[1]
Scott began translating French-Canadian poetry and publishedAnne Hébert andSaint-Denys Garneau in 1962. He editedPoems of French Canada (1977), which won theCanada Council prize for translation.
Scott opposed Quebec'sBill 22 andBill 101, which established the province within its jurisdiction as an officially-unilingual province within an officially-bilingual country.
After his death on January 30, 1985, Scott was interred inMount Royal Cemetery, Montreal.
Canada Today: A Study of Her National Interests and National Policy – 1938
Canada's Role in World Affairs – 1942
Make This Your Canada: A Review of C.C.F. History and Policy – 1943 (withDavid Lewis)
Cooperation for What? United States and British Commonwealth – 1944
The World War Against Poverty – 1953 (with R. A. MacKay and A. E. Ritchie)
What Does Labour Need in a Bill of Rights – 1959
The Canadian Constitution and Human Rights – 1959
Civil Liberties and Canadian Federalism – 1959
Dialogue sur la traduction – 1970 (withAnne Hebert)
Essays on the Constitution: Aspects of Canadian Law and Politics – 1977
Scott, Frank R. (1986).A New Endeavour: Selected Political Essays, Letters, and Addresses. Edited and introduced byMichiel Horn. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.ISBN0-8020-5672-5.
Six Montreal Poets. New York: Folkways Records, 1957. Includes A. J. M. Smith, Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton, F. R. Scott, Louis Dudek, and A. M. Klein. (cassette, 60 mins)
Canadian Poets on Tape. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1969, 1971. (cassette, 30 mins)
A Poetry Reading. Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1982. (cassette, 60 mins)
