One of his paternal great-grandfathers, Richard William Scott, was a prominent Canadian politician in the nineteenth century, and served for a time as government leader in the Senate of Canada.
Moreover, one of his maternal great-grandfathers was Andrew G. Blair, who served as Premier of New Brunswick from 1883 to 1896, when he joined Richard Scott in the federal Liberal cabinet.
In 1948, while still a schoolboy, Ian Scott co-wrote a number of speeches for Brooke Claxton, Liberal Minister of National Defence.
[6] In addition to his courtroom work, Scott began teaching civil procedure at the University of Toronto Law School in 1968.
He once described his political views as "left of liberal" and had considered running for the Ontario New Democratic Party, but was unimpressed with the leadership abilities of Michael Cassidy.
He was appointed Attorney General and Minister responsible for Native Affairs on June 26, 1985, and served in these positions throughout the Peterson administration.
David, defeating incumbent St. George Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Susan Fish of the Progressive Conservatives.
Scott had been a renowned constitutional lawyer prior to entering politics, and as Attorney-General, he took the unusual step of appearing in court on several occasions to personally argue the government's case.
He also oversaw the introduction of pay equity in the public sector, and introduced an amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code to extend protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
He accepted a teaching position at York University, and remained in the public eye as a political panelist on television until a devastating stroke in 1994 made speech difficult for him.
Scott's sexual orientation was an open secret during his time in politics, although the media respected his privacy and did not report the fact that he was gay or in a long term same-sex relationship.
[12] Scott opposed same-sex marriage for most of his life, on the grounds that it reflected the values of a society which for years treated homosexuals as pariahs.
[13][14] The headquarters of the Attorney General of Ontario, the McMurtry-Scott Building, is named in honour of Scott and Roy McMurtry (former AG 1975–1985).