Hu Harries (December 8, 1921 – August 26, 1986) 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 ...

economist and politician. Born in

Strathmore, Alberta Strathmore is a town located in southern Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Wheatland County. It is along the Trans-Canada Highway approximately east of Calgary. History The town began as a hamlet for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) ...

, he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in agriculture from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

in 1945. He also received a master's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and a doctorate in economics from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. His area of expertise related to the oil industry and transportation. From 1958 to 1960, he was the director of the School of Commerce in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Alberta. From 1960 to 1968, he was the first dean of the new Faculty of Commerce. As well, he ran his own economic consultants firm, Hu Harries and Associates Ltd. He was a consultant with the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and worked with the governments of Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia. He also operated a vineyard; had three ranches in Alberta and British Columbia where he raised pure-bred black angus cattle; ran three racehorse transport companies in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec; and formed the Hertz Truck Rental franchise in Edmonton. Hu was a well-regarded horseman and competed in many rodeos with his horse Docs Twister. Harries entered politics as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Edmonton City Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...

from 1953 to 1959. He was elected to 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 ...

for the riding of Edmonton—Strathcona in 1968 federal election as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

. He defeated Progressive Conservative (PC) incumbent

Terry Nugent Terence James Nugent (December 9, 1920 – April 13, 2006) was a barrister, lawyer and World War II era soldier. He was also a Canadian federal politician from 1958 to 1968 and an alderman in the city of Edmonton, Alberta from 1968 to 1971. ...

by 5,846 votes amidst "

Trudeaumania Trudeaumania was the term used throughout 1968 to describe the excitement generated by Pierre Elliott Trudeau's entry into the April 1968 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election. Trudeau won the leadership election and was sworn in as prim ...

", the wave of popularity that followed the then-new

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

. He lost his seat in the 1972 election to PC challenger

Douglas Roche Douglas James Roche, OC, KCSG (born June 14, 1929) is a Canadian author, parliamentarian, diplomat and peace activist. Roche served as Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton—Strathcona from 1972 to 1979 and for Ed ...

by a 10,283-vote margin. He attempted a comeback at

Edmonton West Edmonton West () is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1988, from 1997 to 2004 and again since 2015. Demographics History and g ...

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 ...

, but he lost to long-serving PC MP

Marcel Lambert Marcel Joseph Aimé Lambert (August 21, 1919 – September 24, 2000) was a Canadian politician and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 1962 to 1963. Life and career Lambert was born in St. Albert, to a French Canadian father and a ...

by 8,731 votes. In the late 1970s, Harries unsuccessfully tried to form a political party called the National Party of Canada (not to be confused with the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

led by Robin Mathews in 1979 or the

led by

Mel Hurtig Mel Hurtig (June 24, 1932 – August 3, 2016) was a Canadian publisher, author, political activist, and political candidate. He was president of the Edmonton Art Gallery. He described himself as a Canadian nationalism, Canadian nationalist, whi ...

in 1993). He married Joyce Maxine Farrell in 1948. They had six children: Tommy, Bruce, Jody, Lori, Jeff and Dan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harries, Hu 1921 births 1986 deaths Canadian university and college faculty deans Edmonton city councillors Iowa State University alumni Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta University of Alberta alumni University of Toronto alumni 20th-century Canadian economists 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada