Summary
John James "Jack" Harris KC (born October 27, 1948) is a former Canadian lawyer and politician from Newfoundland and Labrador. Harris served as the New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament for St. John's East. He represented the riding from 1987 to 1988 and again from 2008 to 2015, when he was defeated. He won the seat again in the 2019 federal election, becoming the only NDP member of the House of Commons from Atlantic Canada. He retired from politics in 2021. Harris is also the former leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (1992-2006).
Jack Harris | |
|---|---|
 Harris in January 2012 | |
| Shadow Minister for National Defence | |
| In office April 19, 2012 – November 19, 2015 | |
| Leader | Thomas Mulcair |
| Preceded by | David Christopherson |
| Succeeded by | James Bezan |
| In office May 26, 2011 – October 13, 2011 | |
| Leader | Jack Layton Nycole Turmel |
| Preceded by | Dominic Leblanc |
| Succeeded by | David Christopherson |
| Leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party | |
| In office 1992–2006 | |
| Preceded by | Cle Newhook |
| Succeeded by | Lorraine Michael |
| Member of Parliament for St. John's East | |
| In office October 21, 2019 – September 20, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Nick Whalen |
| Succeeded by | Joanne Thompson |
| In office October 14, 2008 – October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Norman Doyle |
| Succeeded by | Nick Whalen |
| In office July 20, 1987 – November 21, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | James McGrath |
| Succeeded by | Ross Reid |
| Member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi (St. John's East; 1990–1996) | |
| In office December 11, 1990 – September 29, 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Shannie Duff |
| Succeeded by | Lorraine Michael |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John James Harris October 27, 1948 St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland |
| Political party | New Democratic |
| Spouse | Ann Martin |
| Residence | St. John's |
| Profession | Lawyer, journalist |
Politics edit
Harris first became a member of the House of Commons of Canada after winning a by-election in the riding of St. John's East on July 20, 1987.[1] Harris was the second NDP candidate ever elected to the House of Commons in Newfoundland and Labrador.[2] He was subsequently defeated in the 1988 federal election.[3]
NL NDP Leader edit
Harris was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in a 1990 by-election[4] and was unopposed when he was elected to succeed Cle Newhook as leader of the provincial New Democrats at a party convention held November 1992.[5] He was re-elected to the Legislature in the 1993, 1996, 1999, and 2003 elections.[6]
In 1997, Harris ran for Mayor of St. John's losing narrowly to Andy Wells. He was supported by Danny Williams in this election who had a public dispute with Wells regarding a strike in 1994.[7]
Harris retired from provincial politics in 2006 and was succeeded by Lorraine Michael as leader of the party as well as the Member of the House of Assembly for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.[8][9][10] At the time of his departure, his former law partner Danny Williams was Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Federal politics edit
In the 2008 federal election, Harris was again elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding of St. John's East.[11] He received 74.1% of the vote, which was the fifth highest winning percentage in the election. Following the election, Harris was appointed as the party's Critic for National Defence, and, on several occasions, has been named one of "The Backbench Top Ten", for his performance in the House of Commons, by Maclean's Magazine. Harris was re-elected in the 2011 federal election.[12] He lost the 2015 election in an upset to Liberal Party candidate Nick Whalen.[13][14]
In May 2019, Harris successfully[15] sought the NDP nomination for St. John's East for the 2019 federal election.[16] Harris defeated Whalen in the 2019 election to regain his old seat.[17][18] Harris did not run in the 2021 federal election.[19][20][21][22]
Electoral history edit
| 2019 Canadian federal election: St. John's East | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Jack Harris | 21,148 | 46.92 | +1.63 | none listed | |||
| Liberal | Nick Whalen | 14,962 | 33.20 | −13.54 | none listed | |||
| Conservative | Joedy Wall | 8,141 | 18.06 | +11.52 | $56,419.96 | |||
| Green | David Peters | 821 | 1.82 | +0.71 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,072 | 99.84 | $101,886.12 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 528 | 1.16 | +0.91 | |||||
| Turnout | 45,600 | 67.65 | -0.21 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 67,406 | |||||||
| New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +7.58 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[23] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: St. John's East | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Nick Whalen | 20,974 | 46.73 | +38.96 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Jack Harris | 20,328 | 45.29 | -25.36 | – | |||
| Conservative | Deanne Stapleton | 2,938 | 6.55 | -13.90 | – | |||
| Green | David Anthony Peters | 500 | 1.11 | -0.02 | – | |||
| Communist | Sean Burton | 140 | 0.31 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,880 | 99.75 | $198,664.41 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 111 | 0.25 | ||||||
| Turnout | 44,991 | 67.86 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 66,304 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | +32.16 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[24][25] | ||||||||
| 2011 Canadian federal election: St. John's East | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Jack Harris | 31,388 | 71.22 | -3.33 | $68,045.84 | |||
| Conservative | Jerry Byrne | 9,198 | 20.87 | +11.61 | $85,207.91 | |||
| Liberal | John Allan | 3,019 | 6.85 | -5.73 | $53,539.40 | |||
| Green | Robert Miller | 467 | 1.06 | -0.32 | $335.14 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,072 | 100.0 | – | $85,537.94 | ||||
| Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots | 136 | 0.31 | +0.32 | |||||
| Turnout | 44,208 | 57.85 | +0.96 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 76,424 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | -7.47 | ||||||
| Sources:[26][27] | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Democratic | Jack Harris | 31,369 | 74.63% | ||
| Liberal | Walter Noel | 5,273 | 12.34% | ||
| Conservative | Craig Westcott | 3,872 | 9.21% | ||
| Green | Howard Story | 586 | 1.39% | ||
| Progressive Canadian | Shannon Tobin | 584 | 1.39% | ||
| Newfoundland and Labrador First | Les Coultas | 349 | 0.83% | ||
| Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, 2003 Newfoundland and Labrador general election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
| New Democrat | Jack Harris | 2,456 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Karen Carol | 2,221 | |||
| Liberal | Ray O'Neil | 391 | |||
| Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, 1999 Newfoundland and Labrador general election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
| New Democrat | Jack Harris | 2,179 | |||
| Liberal | Pete Soucy | 2,010 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Chris O'Brien | 793 | |||
| Independent | Shaun Dunn | 53 | |||
| Independent | Paul David Hillier | 116 | |||
| Independent | John Whelan | 48 | |||
| Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, 1996 Newfoundland and Labrador general election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
| New Democrat | Jack Harris | 2,800 | |||
| Liberal | Joan Cook | 1,661 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Cy Mills | 902 | |||
| Independent | Jason Crummey | 120 | |||
| St. John's East, 1993 Newfoundland and Labrador general election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
| New Democrat | Jack Harris | 2,336 | |||
| Liberal | Joan Cook | 1,728 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Sean Fitzgerald | 1,285 | |||
| St. John's East, Newfoundland and Labrador by-election, December 11, 1990 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
| New Democrat | Jack Harris | 1,977 | 49.24 | ||
| Liberal | Barbara Chalker | 1,237 | 30.81 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | John Ottenheimer | 801 | 19.95 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Conservative | Ross Reid | 21,503 | 44.13 | +9.16 | |
| New Democratic | Jack Harris | 17,198 | 35.30 | -10.98 | |
| Liberal | Jim Baird | 9,285 | 19.06 | +1.84 | |
| Christian Heritage | Robert Tremblett | 739 | 1.52 | Ø | |
| Total valid votes | 48,725 | ||||
| Canadian federal by-election, July 20, 1987: St. John's East | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | ||||||
| New Democratic | Jack Harris | 15,842 | ||||||
| Progressive Conservative | Tom Hickey | 11,971 | ||||||
| Liberal | Steve Neary | 5,894 | ||||||
| Rhinoceros | Peter Francis Quinlan | 527 | ||||||
References edit
- ^ "NDP sweeps three federal by-elections". The Globe and Mail. July 21, 1987.
- ^ "NDP holds Hamilton Mountain, takes St. John's East from Tories". The Globe and Mail. July 21, 1987.
- ^ "Soul-searching next on NDP agenda". The Globe and Mail. November 22, 1988.
- ^ "NDP wins seat in Newfoundland". The Globe and Mail. December 12, 1990.
- ^ "New leader for Newfoundland NDP". The Globe and Mail. November 16, 1992.
- ^ "Tories sweep to power in Newfoundland and Labrador". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 22, 2003. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
- ^ "St. John's mayor to take charge of Public Utilities Board | CBC News".
- ^ "Harris stepping down as NDP leader". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 28, 2005. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ "Harris's resignation clears way for Signal Hill byelection". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. September 29, 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ "Do honourable thing and quit seat, Tories tell Harris". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 23, 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ "Former MP Harris sets sights on St. John's East". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. September 8, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ "NDP's Harris landslide in St. John's East". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. May 2, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ "Jack Harris 'surprised' after being ousted by Nick Whalen in St. John's East". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ "NDP acknowledges defeat; loses two N.L. seats". The Telegram. St. John's. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Home". jackharris.ndp.ca.
- ^ "Jack Harris to seek NDP candidacy in St. John's East | SaltWire".
- ^ "Tories, NDP and Greens score wins in Atlantic Canada, but Liberals hold fast". October 21, 2019.
- ^ "NDP's Jack Harris wins St. John's East, as Liberal incumbents take other 6 N.L. seats | CBC News".
- ^ "Departing NDP MP Jack Harris talks career highlights, post-politics plans". CBC News. July 27, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ Smyth, Jeff (June 11, 2021). "St. John's East MP Jack Harris Decides Not to Run for Re-Election". VOCM Local News. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- ^ "St. John's East MP Jack Harris won't run in next federal election". CBC News. June 11, 2021. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
- ^ "Liberals flip St. John's East, trail in Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame". CBC News. September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. February 29, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Elections Canada – Official voting results, Forty-first general election, 2011
- ^ Elections Canada – Candidate's electoral campaign return, 41st general election
External links edit
- Website for Jack Harris, Member of Parliament, St. John's East
- Jack Harris (Newfoundland and Labrador politician) – Parliament of Canada biography
- Jack Harris Facebook page
- Jack Harris on CPAC, Beyond Politics
- Jack Harris' press conference on student loan interest rates (Youtube video)