John James "Jack" Harris (born October 27, 1948) is a former Canadian lawyer and politician from

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. Harris served as 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 ...

(NDP)

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 ...

for

St. John's East St. John's East (french: St. John's-Est; formerly known as St. John's North) is a federal electoral district in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1949. It covers a part of St ...

. He represented the riding from 1987 to 1988 and again from 2008 to

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, 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 Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

. He retired from politics in 2021. Harris is also the former leader of the

Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party The Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP) is a social democratic political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in 1961 as the successor to the ...

(1992-2006).

Politics

Harris first became a member of 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 ...

after winning a

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 ...

in the riding of St. John's East on July 20, 1987. Harris was the second NDP candidate ever elected to the House of Commons in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was subsequently defeated in the 1988 federal election.

NL NDP Leader

Harris was elected to the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the Unicameralism, unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Build ...

in a 1990 by-election and was unopposed when he was elected to succeed

Cle Newhook Cleophas (Cle) Newhook (June 3, 1943 – March 2, 2018) was a Canadian theologian, author and politician in Newfoundland. Newhook was leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1992 but was unsuccessful in several a ...

as leader of the provincial New Democrats at a party convention held November 1992. He was re-elected to the Legislature in the

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, and 2003 elections. 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. Harris retired from provincial politics in 2006 and was succeeded by

Lorraine Michael Lorraine Michael (born March 27, 1943) is a social-democratic Canadian politician from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. From May 2006 until March 2015, Michael was the leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NDP). She i ...

as leader of the party as well as the Member of the House of Assembly for

Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi is a former provincial electoral district for the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. As of 2011 there were 8,137 eligible voters living within the district. The district included the east end of the d ...

. At the time of his departure, his former law partner Danny Williams was Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Federal politics

In the 2008 federal election Harris was again elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding of St. John's East. 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 ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

. Harris was re-elected in the 2011 federal election. He lost the 2015 election in an upset to Liberal Party candidate

Nick Whalen Nicholas Julian Whalen (born June 6, 1973) is a Canadian Liberal politician, who represented the riding of St. John's East in the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 until 2019. Whalen was defeated in the 2019 federal election by former Ne ...

. In May 2019, Harris successfully sought the NDP nomination for St. John's East for the 2019 federal election. Harris defeated Whalen in the 2019 election to regain his old seat. Harris did not run in the 2021 federal election.

Electoral history

References

External links

Website for Jack Harris, Member of Parliament, St. John's East
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Jack Harris Facebook page

Jack Harris on CPAC, Beyond Politics

Jack Harris' press conference on student loan interest rates (Youtube video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jack 1948 births Canadian King's Counsel Lawyers in Newfoundland and Labrador Leaders of the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP/CCF Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party MPs Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party MHAs Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 21st-century Canadian politicians