Augustus Vincent Patrick Harris (July 1908 – February 20, 2000) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 ...

. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was the mayor of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

from 1978 to 1988. Although he was a relatively conservative, pro-development mayor, Harris's political roots were in the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

and 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 ...

. He was a long-time

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

who was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Gus Harris grew up in poverty in Liverpool, in a home with no

indoor plumbing Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Building ...

, saying later that thin soup was his usual supper and an egg or apple were considered luxuries."This mayor just couldn't stomach riding in a limousine", ''Toronto Star'', November 25, 1985, page D5 His father died when he was three years old. When he was ten, his mother, an Irish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, married his Protestant stepfather. Harris later recalled: "I was born to a great degree of poverty... in an area where there was tremendous religious bigotry and a deep feeling of racial superiority of the British against other nations." Harris's stepfather was a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

and "was always out of work or striking in sympathy with other people or being locked out. So early in my life I was molded as a

and a

because I saw a generation of young people absolutely deprived of any sense of worth because in the early 1920s in England the poverty was just as bad as in the Depression." Seeing posters promoting immigration to Canada by depicting "golden fields of corn", Harris and several friends decided to go to Canada in 1929 to make their fortunes and then return to England after six months. However, when he arrived he was pennliless, having had his baggage stolen. He remained in Canada and made a life, eventually marrying. When

broke out in 1939, and influenced by the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

, he declared himself a

and was sent to

Banff, Alberta Banff is a resort town in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Calgary, east of Lake Louise, Alberta, Lake Louise, and above Banff was the first municipality to incorporate within ...

to cut down trees. During this period, his first child was born but died after ten days; Harris was not permitted to go home for the funeral.

Political career

After the war, he got involved with the

co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

s, and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s and entered politics in Scarborough, first being elected as a

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

trustee in 1946 and became chairman of the school board in May 1949 after the previous chairman resigned. He was first elected to Scarborough Township council in 1950, and then was elected reeve of the township in 1956, unseating eight-term incumbent Oliver E. Crockford. After being defeated by Albert Campbell in the following year's election, he went on to return to Scarborough council and served on the Board of Control when the township became a borough and then a city in 1983. He was also progressive on social issues calling for

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

at a 1979 human rights rally. Harris never accepted financial donations to his political campaigns from any source so that he would not be captive to any interests. As mayor, he refused to use the chauffeur-driven limousine that was offered to

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

's city and borough mayors and continued to live in a modest, semi-detached house that he and his wife had bought in 1942. Shortly before the nomination deadlines for the 1988 municipal elections in Ontario, Harris announced he would not seek re-election as mayor, and was officially succeeded by

Joyce Trimmer Joyce Trimmer (November 10, 1927 – May 17, 2008) was a Canadian politician. She was the first woman mayor of Scarborough, Ontario. Born in London, England, Trimmer emigrated to Toronto with her husband Douglas in 1954, where they settled ...

as mayor, in early December 1988.

Retirement

Although retired from active politics, Harris occasionally spoke on various municipal issues in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as transit concerns and the proposal for the potential amalgamation of

. On February 20, 2000, He died at the age of 91 due to complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. A nature trail that passes through Warden Woods Park on

Taylor-Massey Creek Taylor-Massey Creek is a tributary of the Don River in Toronto, Ontario. It flows through Scarborough and East York, where it enters the Don River. Taylor-Massey Creek has also been called ''Silver Creek'' and ''Scarboro Creek''. The creek is na ...

was named in his honour.

Memorable quotes

On 11 December 1973 during a debate on the fate of the community on the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

, Harris, a Controller at the time, was firmly against the idea of retaining the houses. He said at one point, "These people have launched as vicious a propaganda campaign as I've ever seen. You can see the fine hand of Island public relations in this City proposal. I've had it with their heart-rending stories." Joyce Trimmer, Harris' successor as mayor originally lived on the Toronto Islands. In July 1988, just prior to his retirement as mayor, he spoke about how Scarborough was maturing as a city. He said, "They won't be calling this place Scarberia much longer."Robert Fulford. Accidental City. 1995. MacFarlane, Walter & Ross. Toronto. p. 112.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Gus 1908 births 2000 deaths Mayors of Scarborough, Ontario Metropolitan Toronto councillors Neurological disease deaths in Ontario Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Canada Conscientious objectors Converts to Protestantism from Roman Catholicism Canadian people of Irish descent Politicians from Liverpool British emigrants to Canada Canadian socialists Members of the United Church of Canada 20th-century mayors of places in Ontario