Asa Milton "Milt" Harradence (1922 – February 28, 2008)Komarnicki, Jamie

, March 2, 2008 ''Edmonton Journal'' was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

criminal lawyer, pilot, politician and judge of the

Court of Appeal of Alberta The Court of Appeal of Alberta (frequently referred to as Alberta Court of Appeal or ABCA) is a Canadian appellate court. Jurisdiction and hierarchy within Canadian courts The court is the highest in Alberta, Canada. It hears appeals from the ...

Early life

Harradence was born in Blaine Lake,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

and earned his law degree at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. His aggressive nature saw him become middleweight boxing champion of the University of Saskatchewan. His brother, Clyne Harradence, graduated in law at the same time and was in partnership with

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...

before Diefenbaker became

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Military service & aviation

From 1941 to 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he served in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environ ...

(RCAF). It was during his service that he was wrongfully "cashiered" for performing aerobatics with a Bristol Bolingbroke bomber-trainer, "broken" from the RCAF and sent to Alaska as a member of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases acr ...

. After the war he overturned his "cashiering," had his flying status and honourable record renewed and moved to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

to practise law. Harradence flew with 403 City of Calgary Squadron, RCAF for a number of years. In 1960

Lynn Garrison Lynn Garrison (born April 1, 1937) is a Canadian pilot and political adviser. He was a Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot in the 403 City of Calgary Squadron, before holding jobs as a commercial pilot, film producer, director and mercenary. ...

, also a pilot with 403 Squadron, obtained the contract to ferry 75

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

aircraft, retired from RCAF service, to their new owners in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Harradence would take time off from his law practise to accompany Garrison on the trips. Flying without radios, most of the time, they navigated by following the

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...

railroad tracks eastward. Some of the flights were very exciting. He and Garrison acquired two Mustangs as part of their compensation and registered them as CF-LOR and CF-LOQ, the first of their type registered in Canada. Harradence loved to do low-level aerobatics and participated in many

airshows An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show ...

across Canada and the United States. He and Garrison had a long-term relationship with the founders of the Confederate Air Force in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Milt would trade his Mustang for a DeHavilland Vampire jet, obtained from New York by Garrison. This would be traded for Garrison's Canadair F-86 which Harradence flew as CF-AMH, for a short time, before retiring from the aviation game in 1967. Milt Harradence Mustang

While ferrying surplus Mustangs from the old RCAF Station Macleod, Harradence and Garrison noted a number of

Lancaster bombers The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, ...

heading into the melting pot. Garrison purchased Lancaster FM-136 in 1960 and ferried it to Calgary where, with the help of Milt Harradence and Arthur R. Smith DFC, MP, created the Lancaster Memorial Fund. The Lancaster is a permanent display in Calgary as a memorial to those who served with the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Z ...

, during World War Two. Harradence and Smith received their pilot training under this scheme. Smith flew Lancasters.

Politics

With Lynn Garrison as his campaign manager, Harradence was elected to

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

in 1957 serving as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

for a term. He was re-elected for a second term but resigned after a short period. Harradence was leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party from 1962 to 1964. A flamboyant Calgary defence lawyer and war veteran, he defeated Ernest Watkins, the party's sole member of the

legislature A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

, at the 1962 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. He received media attention during

1963 Alberta general election The 1963 Alberta general election was held on June 17, 1963, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C. Manning, won its eighth consecutive term in government, winning roughly the same num ...

by flying his own red P-51 Mustang across the province while campaigning. Harradence was defeated in

Calgary West Calgary West was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, and from 1979 to 2015. It was in the western part of the City of Calgary. The electoral district was ...

by Donald S. Fleming of the

Social Credit Party of Alberta Alberta Social Credit was a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on social credit monetary policy put forward by Clifford Hugh Douglas and on conservative Christian social values. The Canadian social credit movement wa ...

and the party lost half of its popular vote and was shut out of the legislature with the loss of Watkins' seat.Beuerlein, Patricia, "Tory leadership history," ''Edmonton Journal'', December 3, 2006 Harradence's vigorous campaigning created a base upon which

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth. Bo ...

would develop the Progressive Conservative Party to the point where it defeated the Social Credit Party. Lougheed became Premier.

Legal career

Harradence retired from politics and returned to his legal practise as a criminal defence lawyer. The target of a number of death threats due to his legal work, he was one of the few people in the country granted a permit to carry a concealed weapon. In the 1970s, he was asked by the province to investigate allegations of brutality by prison guards at the Calgary Correctional Institute. While he cleared the guards his report criticized the prison system. The

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

government's handling of the

1973 energy crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had sup ...

and his treatment of

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

created a reason for the Committee for Western Independence in early 1975. Milt Harradence was involved in the Independent Alberta Association aimed at breaking Alberta's oil industry away from

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

's control. This created a great deal of embarrassment for Trudeau. Harradence's cousin,

Jack Horner Jack Horner may refer to: *''Little Jack Horner'', a nursery rhyme People * Jack Horner (baseball) (1863–1910), American professional baseball player *Jack Horner (journalist) (1912–2005), Gordon John Horner, Minnesota sportscaster * Jack B. H ...

, was a cabinet minister in the Trudeau government. In spite of this, one of Trudeau's final acts before leaving office, saw Harradence appointed to the Alberta Court of Appeal in 1979 where he sat as a judge until his retirement in 1997. He died from cancer on February 28, 2008.

Other

His service was recognized when he was appointed an honorary colonel of the 416 Tactical Fighter Squadron in Cold Lake. His colleague, C.D. Evans, wrote a book on Harradence: ''Milt Harradence: The Western Flair''. Canadian Magazine said of Harradence: "When he strides into a courtroom, Calgary’s Milt Harradence goes to war." The Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association in Alberta periodically awards the Harradence Prize in his honour to the experienced counsel whose actions most reflect the characteristics of Harradence

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harradence, Milt 1922 births 2008 deaths Judges in Alberta Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta candidates in Alberta provincial elections Deaths from cancer in Alberta University of Saskatchewan alumni People from Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan College of Law alumni Calgary city councillors Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II Canadian Army personnel of World War II Canadian military personnel from Saskatchewan Canadian Army personnel Royal Canadian Air Force personnel