Harvie Andre, (July 27, 1940 – October 21, 2012) 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 ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, businessman, politician and federal Cabinet minister. Born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, on July 27, 1940, Andre was educated at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

(Chemical ’62, PhD Chemical ’66) and pursued part of his postgraduate studies at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

before becoming a professor of

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

from 1966 to 1972. In the 1972 general election he won a

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, where he served as the Progressive Conservative

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Calgary Centre Calgary Centre (french: Calgary-Centre; formerly known as Calgary South Centre) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. The riding consists of many young ad ...

for twenty-one years. In opposition, Andre was a vocal opponent of

Petro-Canada Petro-Canada is a retail and wholesale marketing brand subsidiary of Suncor Energy. Until 1991, it was a federal Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise). In August 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, with Suncor shareholders rece ...

and the

National Energy Program The National Energy Program (french: Programme énergétique national, NEP) was an energy policy of the Canadian federal government from 1980 to 1985. Created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Energy Minister Marc ...

. He also served as the defence critic. He was appointed to the Cabinet after the 1984 election brought the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

to power under

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

. Andre served as

Minister of Supply and Services Minister of Supply and Services was an office in the Cabinet of Canada from 1969 to 1996. On July 12, 1996, office of the Minister of Supply and Services and the office of the Minister of Public Works were abolished and replaced with the office of ...

until 1985 when he became

Associate Minister of National Defence The associate minister of national defence () is a member of the Canadian cabinet who is responsible for various files within the defence department as assigned by the prime minister or defence minister. The position was created in 1940 during ...

. From 1986 to 1989, he was

Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs The Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs was a Government of Canada cabinet position held between 1967 and 1995. The minister was responsible for consumer and corporate issues relating to legislation at the federal level. The minister was al ...

and then

Minister of Regional Industrial Expansion Minister of Regional Economic Expansion was an office in the Cabinet of Canada The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westmin ...

until 1990. In addition, in 1987 Mulroney gave Andre responsibility for Canada Post Corporation. Andre confronted the Post Office's major labour and cost issues and in the course of two years saw that department go from losses to turn a $98-million profit for the first time in its history. For the last three years of the Mulroney government, Andre was

Government House Leader The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. De ...

. He did not run for re-election in the 1993 federal election, and returned to private life. After leaving politics, Andre was involved in the business world, particularly the energy sector, as president of Cresvard Corporation since 1998, chief executive of Calgary-based Wenzel Downhole Tools and chairman of BowEnergy Resources since 2001. He served on numerous corporate

boards of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. Andre was married, and had two daughters and one son.

References

External links

*
Canadian EncyclopediaU of A Engineer Magazine Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Harvie 1940 births 2012 deaths Businesspeople from Edmonton Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the United Church of Canada Politicians from Edmonton Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs University of Alberta alumni 20th-century Canadian politicians