Harry Myrislaw Harapiak (September 17, 1938 - November 14, 2000) was a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

, Canada. He served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected ...

from 1981 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

government of

Howard Pawley Howard Russell Pawley (November 21, 1934 – December 30, 2015) was a Canadian politician and professor who was the 18th premier of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988. Prior to his premiership, Pawley served in various ministerial positions after his ...

. His brother Leonard Harapiak was also a cabinet minister in the Pawley administration, and his sister Rosann Wowchuk was a cabinet minister in the governments of

Gary Doer Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016. Doer previously served as the 20th p ...

and Greg Selinger and retired before the 2011 Manitoba election. The son of William John Harapiak and Mary Philipchuk, Harry Harapiak was born in Cowan, Manitoba and was educated there, at Minitonas College and at Coniston Continuation; he did not attend university. In the 1950s, he left the family farm to work at the Inco mines in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

. He married Carol Anne Eastwood in 1962 in Coniston, Ontario and they had five children together - Marianne, Mark, Christine, Kelly and Chad. He returned to farming in Manitoba the following year. After a few years of subsistence farming, he began work with the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

. Harry served as a Kelsey School Board trustee in The Pas, Manitoba from 1973 to 1981. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1981, for the northern riding of

The Pas The Pas ( ; french: Le Pas) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provin ...

. Pawley's NDP won a majority government in this election, and on January 30, 1985 Harapiak was appointed

Minister of Northern Affairs The minister of northern affairs (french: ministre des Affaires du Nord) is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The position has been held by Dan Vandal since 20 November 2019. In 1953, the role of Minister of Northern Affairs and ...

with responsibility for the Communities Economic Development Fund Act and some aspects of the Manitoba Natural Resources Development Act . He was re-elected without difficulty in the 1986 election and kept in his portfolio, without the additional responsibilities. On February 4, 1987, he was appointed

Minister of Government Services Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

with responsibility for the Workers Compensation Act (except as regards Worker Advisers). The New Democrats were unexpectedly defeated in the legislature in early 1988, and were defeated in the election which followed. Harry Harapiak was re-elected for The Pas, and sat in the opposition benches for the next two years. He did not run for re-election in 1990, and returned to his private career as a VIA Rail Canada engineer. In 1997, he became a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in the

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in Winnipeg. On May 19, 1984, Harry's eldest daughter Marianne married Todd Lamb, the grandson of Tom Lamb from

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

. On April 13, 2005, Harry's daughter

Christine Harapiak Christine Harapiak, from Dauphin, Manitoba, was appointed to the Provincial Court of Manitoba on April 13, 2005. Judge Harapiak graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba in 1994 and began practice in the private sector. Fro ...

was appointed as a Judge in Manitoba. Harry's eldest son Mark Harapiak is an actor based in Toronto. He has appeared in many productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Mark's wife, Blythe Wilson appeared in Mary Poppins on Broadway in 2011-2012. Harry Harapiak died November 14, 2000 at the age of 62.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harapiak, Harry 1938 births 2000 deaths New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Canadian people of Ukrainian descent