Ross Harvey (born 25 April 1952) is a Canadian politician who was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. He sat as an NDP MP from 1988 to 1993, representing Edmonton-East.

Biography

Harvey's background is in information and research. Prior to entering into a career in politics, he was a member of Spiny Norman's Whoopee Band 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 ...

while a university student. Bandmate and local celebrity

Holger Petersen Holger Petersen, (born 23 November 1949) is a Canadian businessman, record producer and radio broadcaster. He founded the independent roots music record label Stony Plain Records in 1975 with partner Alvin Jahns. The label was sold to True Nor ...

called the band a " Monty Python/ Frank Zappa kind of thing." Ross worked as executive assistant to Alberta NDP leaders

Grant Notley Walter Grant Notley (January 19, 1939 – October 19, 1984) was a Canadian politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1984 and also served as leader of the Alberta NDP from 1968 to 1984. Early life Notl ...

and Ray Martin between 1979 and 1986, and as caucus coordinator and research director for the 16-member NDP Official Opposition caucus elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1986. He was elected in the 1988 federal election at the

Edmonton East 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 anchor ...

electoral district for the New Democratic Party. He served in the

34th Canadian Parliament The 34th Canadian Parliament was in session from December 12, 1988, until September 8, 1993. The membership was set by the 1988 federal election on November 21, 1988, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it wa ...

but lost to Judy Bethel of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in the 1993 federal election. Among the issues he championed in the House of Commons were renewable energy and justice for the Lubicon Lake Cree nation. Until Linda Duncan's victory in the 2008 federal election, Harvey was the only Alberta member of the NDP or the CCF, its predecessor party, elected to the House of Commons. After his 1993 defeat, he was elected leader of the Alberta New Democrats in February 1994, he survived a leadership challenge in November 1995 but resigned his position in September 1996 without having faced a general election as leader. He and his family (common-law spouse Deb Bowers and son Isaac Harvey) moved to British Columbia that month, first spending nine months in Castlegar, then moving permanently to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. They re-located to

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

, east of Vancouver, in 2007. He worked from July 1997 to August 2018 as executive director of the BC Persons With AIDS Society (renamed the Positive Living Society of British Columbia in March 2011). When he retired from this position, he and Deb moved back to Castlegar. According to his entry for ''Who's Who 2008'', he is a self-described socialist whose religion is physics.

References

External links

* 1952 births Alberta CCF/NDP leaders Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta New Democratic Party MPs Politicians from Vancouver {{Alberta-politician-stub