Harvey Norman Murray Patterson (September 12, 1924 – April 8, 2014) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. He served as a New Democratic member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

from 1973 to 1975. His term in office is usually remembered for the controversial nature of his election. The son of Norman Clifford Patterson and Isabel Baker, he was born in

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

, Manitoba and educated at

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Al ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Patterson married Margaret Black in 1946. Before entering politics, he worked as a tractor trailer driver. In 1961, he was a delegate to the founding convention of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

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. He was actively involved in Winnipeg's labour movement, serving as President of the

Winnipeg Labour Council The Winnipeg Labour Council is a labour council based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (french: Congrès du travail du Canada, link=no or ) is a national trade union ce ...

in the early 1970s (at a time when the WLC was losing members to the

Manitoba Federation of Labour The Manitoba Federation of Labour is the Manitoba provincial trade union federation of the Canadian Labour Congress. It was formed in 1956 and has a membership of 95,000 people working in various private sector and public sector fields such as Ma ...

). He was also the chairman for the province's 1970 Panel on Labour Relations and its 1971 Panel on Human Rights and Consumer Affairs. In the provincial election of 1973, Patterson ran for the NDP in the Winnipeg riding of

Crescentwood Crescentwood is a former electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created in 1969, abolished in 1979, re-established in 1989, and abolished again in 1999. The Crescentwood riding was located in Winnipeg's south-central re ...

against Progressive Conservative Lawrie Pollard and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

June Menzies. Patterson won on election night, but a judicial recount invalidated 150 ballots and handed the victory to Pollard. The recount was appealed and a revised count was a tie. The

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...

broke the tie in Patterson's favour. After an investigation into the ballot-counting process, Patterson's election was declared void on February 20, 1975. He ran again in the succeeding

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, but finished third against Progressive Conservative

Warren Steen Warren Steen (July 22, 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba – August 19, 2009) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1975 to 1986, as a Progressive Conservative. Biography The s ...

and Liberal leader

Charles Huband Charles Huband is a Manitoba politician, who subsequently became a judge. He was the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party between 1975 and 1978. Huband attended the University of Manitoba in the 1950s, earning his Bachelor of Laws degree from the ...

. He did not seek a return to public office after this time. In 1978, Patterson became Executive Secretary of the Winnipeg Labour Council. He retired in the mid-1980s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Harvey 1924 births 2014 deaths New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs People from Pembina Valley Region, Manitoba Canadian military personnel of World War II