John Paul Ludger Harney, also known as Jean-Paul Harney, (February 2, 1931 – October 4, 2021) was a Canadian

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Academic life

After completing his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

at Queen's University in 1961, he became an assistant professor of English at the

Ontario Agricultural College The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affil ...

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, and taught there until 1966. He was also a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and gave readings at the Guelph Public Library. In 1970, he became a humanities professor at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, and a professor of Canadian studies until 1998.

Political career

Harney ran as a candidate for the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. From 1962 to 1965, he stood as a candidate for the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

Wellington South Wellington South was a Canadian federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act 1867 as the "South Riding of ...

. After moving to Toronto, he then stood once more as a candidate in

Scarborough West Scarborough Southwest is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography It covers the southwestern part of the Scarborough part of Toronto. It stre ...

in the 1968 federal election. He won a seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in the 1972 federal election, but was defeated in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. He continued to campaign in subsequent elections there up to

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. In addition, he sought the NDP nomination in the 1978 federal byelection for Broadview, but lost out to

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

. He was the Provincial Secretary for the

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...

from 1966 to 1970. In that time, he was also the campaign manager for that party's breakthrough campaign in the 1967 general election. He campaigned to become national leader at the NDP's 1971 leadership convention, coming in third behind winner David Lewis and runner-up

James Laxer James Robert Laxer (22 December 1941 – 23 February 2018), also known as Jim Laxer, was a Canadian political economist, historian, public intellectual, and political activist who served as a professor at York University. Best known as co-f ...

. He stood as a candidate again at the 1975 leadership convention, where he got as far as the second ballot, coming in fourth. In 1981, he became involved in party debates concerning the forthcoming adoption of the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

'', arguing that it was silent about labour rights to organize, strike and bargain. Born in Quebec and fluently

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, Harney returned to the province and became leader of the Quebec wing of the federal NDP in 1984. He continued to teach at York University, while living in Sillery. He led the relaunching of the

New Democratic Party of Quebec New Democratic Party of Quebec or Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec may refer to: * New Democratic Party of Quebec (1963), a Canadian provincial political party which served as the Quebec section of the federal New Democratic Party before disa ...

as a provincial party in 1985 but was unable to win a seat either in the federal House of Commons (running in

Lévis Lévis () is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre-Laporte Bridge, connect we ...

in two elections) or in the

Quebec National Assembly The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Quebec (representing the King of Canada) and the Nat ...

(running in

Louis-Hébert Louis-Hébert could refer to: *Louis-Hébert (provincial electoral district) Louis-Hébert () is a provincial electoral district in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. It consists of part of the Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge bo ...

). During this time, he

francized Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), also known as Frenchification, is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by more a ...

his name to "Jean-Paul". Late in the 1988 federal election campaign, he called a press conference to support using the

notwithstanding clause Section 33 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause (, , or, as prescribed by the Quebec Board of the French Language, ). Sometimes referred to ...

of the

Canadian Constitution The Constitution of Canada () is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents are an amalgamation of various ...

to protect Quebec's francophone culture and restrict the use of other languages. This press conference was not endorsed by the NDP leadership, and many believe that it cost the party support among Quebec's

anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

s. He stepped down later that year. Although he favoured the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

position on

Quebec sovereignty The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

, he refused to consider becoming one of its candidates as long as it pursued independence from Canada. Harney later retired to

Prince Edward County, Ontario Prince Edward County (PEC) is a single-tier municipality in southern Ontario, Canada. Its coastline on Lake Ontario’s northeastern shore is known for Sandbanks Provincial Park, sand beaches, and limestone cliffs. The Regent Theatre, a restor ...

, and was involved in promoting local causes. He died in Picton, Ontario on October 4, 2021.

Electoral record

Federal

Wellington South

Scarborough West

Lévis

Quebec

Louis-Hébert

, - , Réjean Doyon , align="right", 16,913 , align="right", 51.9 , align="right", -0.9 , - , Jean-Paul Harney , align="right", 2,798 , align="right", 8.6 , align="right", +8.6 , - , Claudette J. Hethrington , align="right", 287 , align="right", 0.9 , align="right", +0.9 , - , Emmanuel Le Brasseur , align="right", 252 , align="right", 0.8 , align="right", +0.8 , - ,

Christian Socialist A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

, Michel Durocher , align="right", 58 , align="right", 0.2 , align="right", +0.2 , -

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harney, John Paul 1931 births 2021 deaths Canadian socialists Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario New Democratic Party MPs New Democratic Party of Quebec candidates in Quebec provincial elections Politicians from Quebec City Leaders of the Quebec CCF/NDP Academic staff of York University Anglophone Quebec people 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada