Mac Harb (born November 10, 1953) is a former Canadian politician, who served successively in local

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

positions, as a Member of the House of Commons, and as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

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 ...

.J. Patrick Boyer. ''Our Scandalous Senate'' Volume 1 of Point of View. Dundurn, 2014. chapter 3; pp. 58 to 60. . He resigned his seat as

in 2013 amidst the Canadian Senate expenses scandal.

Life and career

Harb, was born in Chaat,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to study at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

in 1973. He subsequently worked as an engineer at Northern Telecom and a professor at Algonquin College in

. Harb was elected to Ottawa City Council in 1985 and served as deputy mayor in 1987 and 1988. He was first 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 ...

in the 1988 federal election as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Ottawa Centre. He supported

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

's bid to succeed John Turner as leader of the Liberal Party in 1990 and remained a Chrétien loyalist throughout his career as an MP. In September 2003, Harb was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

on Chrétien's recommendation. In March 2009, Harb attempted to introduce a bill that would have limited the East Coast seal hunt to only those with aboriginal treaty rights. No senator seconded his motion to introduce the bill, something that other senators could not recall happening in over two decades. He also attempted to introduce a bill in June 2011 that would outlaw commercial seal hunting, and had introduced a third bill against the seal hunt in May 2012. PETA subsequently honoured him as their "Canadian Person of the Year".

Local Ottawa politics

After the 1991 Ottawa municipal election, Harb, who was a Liberal MP and had supported fiscally conservative, pro-business candidate Jacquelin Holzman, admitted to "quietly encourag ng Marc Laviolette to enter the race to split the vote, because he "couldn't stomach Smith's left-wing social agenda" and the thought of Nancy Smith winning.

Senate expense scandal

On December 6, 2012, Harb was named in relation to the Canadian Senate expenses scandal due to expenses for a property in Pembroke, Ontario. In May 2013, the Senate Internal Economy Committee found that Harb had incorrectly claimed $51,482.92 of living and travel expenses and ordered him to repay it, which was done by July 5, 2013. The committee had earlier advised Harb to repay $231,000 of claimed expenses dating back to 2005 to avoid an extensive audit into his finances. Harb stated that his repayment was done "under protest" since he intended to challenge the validity of the committee's findings in the Ontario Divisional Court. On August 26, 2013, he repaid a further $180,166.17, for a total reimbursement of $231,649.07, after which he resigned his Senate seat. In February 2014, Harb was charged with fraud and breach of trust in connection with these expense claims. Those charges were later withdrawn by the Crown in May 2016, after the acquittal of Senator Mike Duffy on his own expense-related criminal charges.

References

External links

Liberal Senate Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harb, Mac 1953 births Canadian engineers Canadian senators from Ontario Lebanese emigrants to Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Ottawa city councillors University of Ottawa alumni 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Canadian people of Lebanese descent Ottawa-Carleton regional councillors 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada