in Stockwell Day's leadership campaign. In the same year, Reid criticized Jean Chrétien's Clarity Act as failing to provide a clear framework for future referendums on Quebec separatism. Opposition MP (2000–2006) Reid was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2000 federal election as a member of the Canadian Alliance. He narrowly defeated Liberal incumbent Ian Murray in the riding of Lanark—Carleton to become one of only two Alliance representatives from Ontario. After the election, he was appointed as Alliance critic for Intergovernmental Affairs (including official languages) and served in 2001–02 as the vice-chair of the Standing Joint Committee of the House of Commons and Senate on Official Languages. Reid was Stephen Harper's primary Ontario organizer in 2002, during Harper's successful challenge against Stockwell Day for the Alliance leadership. Reid was part of the five-person transition team that arranged for Harper to assume the leadership, following Harper's March 2002 victory. The following year, he was appointed as a lead negotiator for the Alliance in the merger talks with the Progressive Conservative Party that led to the creation of the Conservative Party of Canada. For the 2004 election campaign, Reid transferred to the riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington. Early in the contest, he provoked controversy by re-asserting that official bilingualism is too broadly applied in Canada and that the policy should be reviewed by the House of Commons and Senate Standing Committees on Official Languages. The comment provoked an immediate reaction from Prime Minister Paul Martin, who warned that Reid's proposals reflected “the kind of Canada that Stephen Harper wants." Georges Arès, the president of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, also expressed concern. Reid clarified that his views did not represent Conservative Party policy, and he resigned as the party's official languages critic later the same day. Some in the media felt that both the controversy and Reid's reaction had been overblown. An editorial in the National Post argued that “perhaps no one in Parliament understands the Official Languages Act better than Scott Reid,” and expressed the hope that Reid would soon “be restored to that portfolio, either as critic or minister, after the election is over.” An Ottawa Citizen editorial stated that “the level of political debate in Canada has plunged again with the verbal attack on ... Scott Reid.” The controversy did not hurt Reid's chances for re-election; he defeated Liberal incumbent Larry McCormick