William Leonard Hartley (December 12, 1916 – May 4, 2003) was an electrician, insurance salesman and political figure in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He represented

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

from 1963 to 1966 and

Yale-Lillooet Yale-Lillooet was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It first appeared in the 1966 General Election, when it superseded the older Lillooet riding, which was one of the province's original ...

from 1966 to 1975 as a

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

. He was born in

Estevan Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, the son of Leonard Hartley and Sarah Ann Lee, both natives of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and grew up in Clayburn, British Columbia. Hartley settled in Mission, B.C. He was president of the North Fraser Co-operative Association and served on the board of C.U. & C. Health Services. Hartley ran unsuccessfully a number of times as a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate for a seat in federal elections, before he was elected provincially for the New Democratic Party in 1963. He was subsequently re-elected three times. He served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Public Works, in the New Democratic Party government from 1972 to 1975 Hartley was defeated when he ran for re-election in 1975. He retired from the insurance business in 1986. Hartley help found Co-op Fire and Casualty, later

The Co-operators The Co-operators Group Limited is a Canadian insurance co-operative, founded in 1945, owned by 46 members including co-ops, credit union centrals and representative farm organizations. It is one of the leading Canadian-owned multi-line insurers, ...

. In 1955, he married Marianne Martha Mueller a nurse from Lumsden, Saskatchewan. He had three children, Gretchen, Eric and Lisa.

References

1916 births 2003 deaths British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Electricians Insurance agents Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia People from Estevan Canadian people of English descent {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub