Leonard Harapiak (born July 4, 1942) is a

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

politician. He served in the

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Deve ...

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 t ...

, and narrowly lost the party's leadership to

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 ...

in 1988. A school principal and part-time farmer, Harapiak first ran for the Manitoba NDP in 1977 in the north-western riding of Swan River. He was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate

Douglas Gourlay Douglas MacLeod Gourlay (born December 1, 1929) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1986, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Sterling L ...

, but nonetheless impressed many in the party's leadership. Due to a physical resemblance, he was dubbed the "Ukrainian

Bobby Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

", and was considered as a leadership candidate in 1979 when

Edward Schreyer Edward Richard Schreyer (born December 21, 1935) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation. Schreyer was born and educated in Manitoba, and was first electe ...

resigned. He declined this offer. Harapiak lost to Gourlay for a second time in 1981. He finally won the Swan River riding in 1986, defeating Gourlay by 65 votes. He joined

's cabinet immediately after the election, being sworn in as

Minister of Natural Resources The minister of natural resources () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfolio ...

on April 17, 1986. On September 21, 1987, he was moved to the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

. After Pawley's government lost a vote of confidence in 1988, Harapiak ran for the Manitoba NDP leadership and did better than expected. He believed he had a chance of winning after placing a strong second on the first ballot, but was defeated by

on the third by 21 votes. He was defeated by

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

Parker Burrell in the general election which followed. Harapiak subsequently left politics, and worked as a director at the

Winnipeg Technical Centre Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. His sister,

Rosann Wowchuk Rosann Wowchuk (née Harapiak; born August 15, 1945) is a former Manitoba politician, and was a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party governments of Premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger. The daughter of William Harapiak and Mary Philipch ...

, was appointed as a cabinet minister in

's government in 1999. He is also the brother of agronomist John Harapiak and

Harry Harapiak Harry Myrislaw Harapiak (September 17, 1938 - November 14, 2000) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party govern ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harapiak, Len 1942 births Living people New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Canadian people of Ukrainian descent