Term of Office: 30 June 2004 – 3 Aug. 2009
Born: Glenboro, Manitoba, 4 June 1938
Died: Winnipeg, Manitoba, 9 January 2016
- Born in Glenboro, Manitoba, 1938, John Harvard’s career has spanned broadcasting, politics and a five-year term as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. His volunteer service has benefitted many public agencies.
- As Manitoba’s Lieutenant Governor, June 30, 2004 to August 4, 2009, he celebrated outstanding citizenship and service to the Province of Manitoba, honouring individuals in every part of the province.
- Elected a Member of Parliament for sixteen years (1988-2004), Mr. Harvard chaired several House of Commons standing, all-party committees: Government Operations; Heritage; and Agriculture. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministers of Public Works, Agriculture and International Trade. In 2001-02, Mr. Harvard chaired the Prime Minister’s Task Force on the Four Western Provinces. From 1996 to 2000 he was Chairman of the Canada-Germany Parliamentary Friendship Association and from 2001-2004 he was Chairman of the Canada-United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Association. Through 2002 and 2003, he was a Member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and was deeply involved in the Committee’s study of Canada’s global relations with Islamic countries.
- From 1957-1988 John Harvard was a broadcaster in radio and television, including ten years with CJOB in Winnipeg, and eighteen with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Manitoba, BC and Toronto. He received the Actra Award as the Best Broadcaster in Canada in 1976.
- Mr. Harvard is currently a Board Member of a number of organizations, including: the Icelandic Foundation, Canada; the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg; Winnipeg Harvest Food Bank’s Poverty and Hunger Committee; the Patron’s Circle of the Canadian Muslim Leadership Institute; and the Duke of Edinburg Awards. Mr. Harvard also served as Vice-Prior of the Society of St. John. He is a member of the Canadian Club and of Professional and Business Association (PROBIS).
- His volunteerism with the Canadian Muslim Leadership Institute has involved developing courses, workshops and round-tables since the organization’s inception and he has spoken frequently at events for young immigrant students. He has also lectured in the University of Winnipeg’s Political Science Department.
- A member of the Privy Council of Canada, Mr. Harvard was awarded the Order of Manitoba in 2004, and while Lieutenant Governor served as the Order’s Chancellor. He received the Knight’s Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon in 2000; an Honourary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Manitoba in 2005, and, in 2009, he was inducted as a Knight of the Society of St. John.