Ross Harvey (born 25 April 1952) is a Canadian politician who was a member of 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 ...

from 1988 to 1993. He sat as an NDP MP from 1988 to 1993, representing Edmonton-East.

Biography

Harvey's background is in information and research. Prior to entering into a career in politics, he was a member of Spiny Norman's Whoopee Band in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

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 ...

while a university student. Bandmate and local celebrity Holger Petersen called the band a "

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

kind of thing." Ross worked as executive assistant to Alberta NDP leaders Grant Notley and Ray Martin between 1979 and 1986, and as caucus coordinator and research director for the 16-member NDP Official Opposition caucus elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1986. He was elected in the 1988 federal election at the Edmonton East

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

for the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

. This was the first time an NDP MP was elected in Alberta. He served in the

34th Canadian Parliament The 34th Canadian Parliament was in session from December 12, 1988, until September 8, 1993. The membership was set by the 1988 federal election on November 21, 1988, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it w ...

but lost to

Judy Bethel Judith Claire Bethel (24 August 1943 – 11 March 2025) was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons for the Edmonton East electoral district from 1993 to 1997. She was born in Winnipeg, M ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in the 1993 federal election. Among the issues he championed in the House of Commons were renewable energy and justice for the Lubicon Lake Cree nation. Until Linda Duncan's victory in the 2008 federal election, Harvey was the only Alberta member of the NDP or the CCF, its predecessor party, elected to the House of Commons. After his 1993 defeat, he was elected leader of the Alberta New Democrats in February 1994, he survived a leadership challenge in November 1995 (by Anne McGrath) but resigned his position in September 1996 without having faced a general election as leader. He and his family (common-law spouse Deb Bowers and son Isaac Harvey) moved to British Columbia that month, first spending nine months in Castlegar, then moving permanently to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. They re-located to Mission, east of Vancouver, in 2007. He worked from July 1997 to August 2018 as executive director of the BC Persons With AIDS Society (renamed the Positive Living Society of British Columbia in March 2011). When he retired from this position, he and Deb moved back to Castlegar. According to his entry for ''Who's Who 2008'', he is a self-described socialist whose religion is physics.

References

External links

* 1952 births Leaders of the Alberta CCF/NDP Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta New Democratic Party MPs Politicians from Vancouver 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Alberta-MP-stub