| John Harvard (politician) |
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John Harvard, PC , OM (born June 4 , 1938 in Glenboro , Manitoba ) is a journalist, politician and office holder in Manitoba, Canada . He served as a federal MP from 1988 to 2004 , and was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba just before Canada's 2004 Federal Election . Harvard was a broadcast journalist from 1957 to 1988 . He worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for eighteen years and was for many years the host of a popular call-in show in Winnipeg . Coincidentally, his predecessor as lieutenant-governor, Peter M. Liba , worked as a journalist for CBC's competitor CanWest . Harvard was elected to the Canadian House Of Commons in the 1988 Election as a Liberal , defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative George Minaker by 18,695 votes to 16,993 in the middle-class suburban riding of Winnipeg—St. James (in the previous election, the Liberal candidate had finished third). Harvard sat as a backbench member of the parliamentary opposition from 1988 to 1993 . The Liberal Party won the 1993 Federal Election , and Harvard was easily re-elected in Winnipeg—St. James, defeating his nearest competitor, Reformer Peter Blumenschein , by about 13,000 votes. He was not appointed to cabinet, but was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services in 1996 . Harvard was again re-elected without difficulty in the Federal Election Of 1997 , running in the redistributed riding of Charleswood--Assiniboine . He was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food after the election, serving until 1998 . Harvard faced his most difficult bid for re-election in the 2000 Campaign , narrowly defeating Canadian Alliance challenger Cyril McFate by 13,901 votes to 11,569. Progressive Conservative Curtis Moore finished third with 9991 votes, causing many to regard the riding as winnable for a "united right" in the next election. Harvard supported Paul Martin for the Liberal Party leadership over a period of several years, and it was perhaps for this reason that he was never called into the cabinet of Jean Chrétien . As early as 2000 , Harvard publicly suggested that Chrétien should consider resigning as party leader. When Martin became prime minister on December 12 , 2003 , Harvard was sworn in to the Privy Council as parliamentary secretary to the minister of international trade. Harvard resigned his parliamentary seat on May 6 , 2004 . It is rumoured that this was done at the urging of Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray , who was seeking the Liberal candidacy for a Winnipeg-area riding in the Upcoming Federal Election . It was announced the next day that Harvard would be appointed lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, and he was officially sworn in on June 30 . The position of lieutenant-governor is largely ceremonial, and Harvard holds very little direct influence over the government of Manitoba.
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