The respect she commands across both sides of the political divide is one of the reasons Linda Reid has a new job - Speaker of the B.C. Legislature.
Richmond East MLA Reid was voted into the hotseat, after 14 candidates were on the list, by her fellow MLAs Wednesday morning at about 9 a.m.
When the News caught up with former deputy speaker Reid on Thursday, she was still taking in the honour that surrounds her new role. But she's in no doubt about the responsibility the speaker has and is relishing the prospect.
"Both sides said lovely things about me and I think they believe I'll bring fairness to the role," said Reid, who won her sixth straight election last month.
"I've got lots of things I need to be briefed on, there's certainly not going to be a shortage of work, that's for sure."
As speaker, Reid has to be available for duty whenever the legislature sits and won't be able to take leave at those times.
And the irony of the fact that Reid - known for the speed in which words leave her mouth - is now the "speaker" is not lost on the veteran politician.
"I'm still working hard on slowing things down a little," laughed Reid. Reid replaces Bill Barisoff, who retired before the election in May.
