John Harvard (politician)

John Harvard, PC, OM ( born June 4, 1938 in Glenboro, Manitoba ) is a Canadian journalist and politician. From 1988 to 2004 he was a liberal member of the House of Commons, then by 2009 the Province of Manitoba Lieutenant-Governor.

Biography

From 1957 to 1988 Harvard worked as a radio journalist. Among other things, he hosted a popular talk show at the transmitter CBOJ in Winnipeg. For 18 years he worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1976 he received the ACTRA Award as the best radio journalist in the country.

Harvard went to the Liberal Party to the General Election in 1988 and won the constituency Winnipeg -St. James. The next five years he was a backbencher in opposition faction. He was re-elected in 1993, where he received more than half of all votes despite eight opposition candidates. In 1996 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of public works and public service. In 1997, he was able to prevail also effortlessly in the newly created constituency Charleswood - Assiniboia. Until 1998 he was parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Agriculture. At the general election in 2000 he was able to prevail against the conservative opposition candidates to just barely.

Since about 2000 Harvard was one of the most loyal supporters of Paul Martin and demanded the resignation of Jean Chrétien as prime minister and party leader. Due to this constellation, it should have not received a ministerial post. When Martin followed Chrétien in December 2003, he appointed Harvard made ​​the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Foreign Trade and made ​​him a member of the Privy Council.

In May 2004, Harvard resigned as an MP. Prime Minister Martin struck him as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson sworn him on 30 June 2004. This representative office he held until August 3, 2009. In 2005 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba.