Michael Donald Harris (born May 10, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has been a regional councillor for the

Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...

since 2018. Harris was formerly a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), and represented

Kitchener—Conestoga Kitchener—Conestoga (formerly known as Kitchener—Wilmot—Wellesley—Woolwich) is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Its pop ...

from 2011 to 2018 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party until April 9, 2018, when he sat as an independent. Harris is not related to

Mike Harris Jr. Mike Harris Jr. (born 1985) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 Ontario general election, 2018 provincial election.Jeff Outhit and Catherine Thompson"Mike Harris Jr. wins in Kitchener-Cones ...

, who succeeded him as the PC MPP for the Kitchener—Conestoga, or former Ontario premier

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

(who is the father of Mike Jr.).

Background

Harris was raised on a farm near

Mount Forest, Ontario Mount Forest is an unincorporated community located at the junction of Highway 6 and Highway 89 in the township of Wellington North, Ontario, Canada. As of the 2011 Canadian census the population of Mount Forest was 4,757 . History Prior to ...

. He worked in the sales department at

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

in Waterloo before being elected as MPP for Kitchener—Conestoga in 2011. He now lives in Kitchener with his family. On October 22, 2017, Harris graduated from the University of Guelph with a Master of Arts.

Political career

Provincial politics

In the 2007 provincial election, Harris ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of

. He was defeated by

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 ...

Leeanna Pendergast Leeanna Pendergast (born ) is a Canadian former politician. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2011, representing the riding of Kitchener—Conestoga. Background Pendergast was born in Kitchener, Ontar ...

by about 1,500 votes. In the 2011 provincial election he ran against Pendergast again, this time defeating her by 3,700 votes. He was re-elected in the 2014 provincial election defeating Liberal candidate Wayne Wright by 1,794 votes. Harris was removed from the PC caucus in 2018, after a complaint from a former intern and the alleged discovery of text messages "of a sexual nature, which included a request for her to send him photos, an invitation for her to meet with him late at night and a reference to something that may have taken place in his office at Queen's Park." In response, Harris issued what he called an "unequivocal apology for the inappropriate texting conversation," which he said was brought to the party's attention "a number of years ago."https://www.cp24.com/news/tory-legislator-kicked-out-of-caucus-over-sexual-misconduct-allegations-party-1.3877479

Municipal politics

On July 24, 2018, it was reported that Harris announced his candidacy for

Waterloo Regional Council The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...

. He was elected on October 22, 2018.

References

External links

Michael Harris past MPP bio at Legislative Assembly of Ontario
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Michael 1979 births 21st-century Canadian politicians Living people Politicians from Kitchener, Ontario People from Wellington County, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs