Michael Harcourt

Michael Harcourt

Michael Franklin "Mike" Harcourt (born January 6, 1943 in Edmonton ) is a Canadian lawyer , author and politician . He was Prime Minister of the Province of British Columbia from November 5, 1991 to February 22, 1996 and Chairman of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1987 to 1996 . He was previously Mayor of Vancouver from 1980 to 1986 .

biography

Harcourt grew up in Vancouver and studied law at the University of British Columbia (UBC). In the 1960s he was active in the protest movement against the Vietnam War . In 1969 he founded Canada's first public legal advisory agency and was its director until 1971. He also advised then Attorney General John Turner on the nationwide introduction of such facilities. From 1973, Harcourt was a member of the Vancouver City Council and was elected mayor in 1980. His term of office was marked by the planning and preparation of the world exhibition Expo 86 ; Numerous infrastructure structures such as the SkyTrain and the BC Place Stadium were also built .

In the elections to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly , Harcourt was elected MP for the Vancouver Center constituency in October 1986. In 1987 he was elected by the NDP as party leader, making him the leader of the opposition. In October 1991 the NDP won an overwhelming election victory and on November 5, 1991 Harcourt took office as Prime Minister.

On February 22, 1996, he resigned as a result of the "Bingogate" scandal. An NDP member had donated proceeds from a charity bingo to the party fund . Although Harcourt was not involved in the scandal, he assumed political responsibility. He was followed by Glen Clark , who also resigned three years later because of a scandal. After the end of his political career, Harcourt worked at UBC on research projects in the field of sustainable urban development.

In November 2002, he suffered a serious accident when he fell in his cottage on Pender Island , injuring his spinal cord . He recovered quickly to the amazement of the doctors and wrote a book about his healing in 2006 ( Plan B: One Man's Journey from Tragedy to Triumph ). In 2007 he received an honorary doctorate from UBC .

Web links

• Mike Harcourt ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
• Michael Harcourt literature in the Library and Archives Canada catalog