Edward Harper (born April 9, 1931) is a former

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politician, who represented the

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Simcoe Centre Simcoe Centre was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Grey—Simcoe, Simcoe Sou ...

in the

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from 1993 until 1997. A member of the Reform Party, Harper was the only MP from that party ever elected anywhere east of

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. He defeated Liberal candidate Janice Laking, the incumbent mayor of Barrie, by a margin of 182 votes. Political analysts credited his victory over Laking largely to ''her'' popularity rather than his, suggesting that many voters in Barrie switched their votes only because they didn't want Laking to step down as mayor."Lessons in right-wing reality from one Harper to another". ''

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'', September 16, 2008. Harper did not stand for reelection in the 1997 election. Before being elected to Parliament, Harper was a businessman in Barrie.

Electoral record

References

External links

* 1931 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Barrie Politicians from Toronto Reform Party of Canada MPs 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Ontario-MP-stub