Robert John Harris (September 16, 1917 – June 12, 1997) was a politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1962 to 1967 who represented the downtown

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

riding of

Beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...

Background

Harris was born at Toronto East General Hospital, in East York, a hospital founded by his father, Joseph Henry Harris, in 1929. During World War II, he saw five years of service in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Germany. He started the war as a Lieutenant Captain of the

48th Highlanders of Canada , colors = , march = " 48th Highlanders Slow March"; Quick – "Highland Laddie" , mascot = , battles = Second Boer WarFirst World WarSecond World ...

infantry regiment and he was promoted to the rank of Major before returning to Canada. He served on a variety of community and charitable boards, including those of the Toronto East General Hospital, the Toronto East YMCA, and the

Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization (veterans' organization) founded in 1925. Membership includes people who have served as military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, Royal ...

. He was married to his wife, Mary, for 49 years and they had three children.

Politics

Harris was elected to the legislature in a 1962 by-election, following the death of the sitting MPP, William Collings. He defeated Liberal Jack MacGregor by 256 votes. After the ballots were counted, MacGregor requested a recount but it did not change the vote difference. Harris served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

supporter in the government led by Premier John Robarts. Harris was re-elected in the subsequent provincial general election, in 1963. He was the Chief Government Whip and also served as Vice-Chair of the

Liquor Control Board of Ontario The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislative Assembly through the minister of finance. It wa ...

. Prior to the 1967 election, the riding was reconfigured and combined with the neighbouring riding of Woodbine to form Beaches-Woodbine. Harris lost to New Democrat

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

by 545 votes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Robert John Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 1917 births 1997 deaths Canadian Army personnel of World War II