Asa Milton "Milt" Harradence (April 23, 1922 – February 28, 2008)Komarnicki, Jamie

, March 2, 2008 ''Edmonton Journal'' 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 ...

criminal lawyer, pilot, politician and judge of the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

Early life

Harradence was born in Blaine Lake,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and earned his law degree at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. 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 of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...

before Diefenbaker became

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 ...

Military service & aviation

From 1941 to 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) 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 environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(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 () 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 across Canada, and is also re ...

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

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron, 403 City of Calgary Squadron, before holding jobs as a Commercial ...

, 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 aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

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 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 ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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 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), often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a large-scale multinational military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Second Wo ...

, 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 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 ...

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 The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, often referred to as the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, was a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta that existed from 1905 to 2020. The party formed the ...

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 a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

, 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 nu ...

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 or ...

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. ...

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) 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 ...

government's handling of the

1973 energy crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after E ...

and his treatment of

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

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 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 ...

'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 (activist) (born 1922), Australian author and activist in the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship * Jack Horner (baseball) (1863–1910), American professional ba ...

, 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 416 "City of Oshawa" Tactical Fighter Squadron (416 TFS) was a unit of the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The squadron operated the CF-18 Hornet fighter jet from CFB Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada. In 2006, 416 TFS stood down ...

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