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Mike Harcourt
Michael Franklin Harcourt OC (born January 6, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia's largest city, from 1980 to 1986.
Harcourt was student council president at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School and studied at the University of British Columbia, where he graduated BA and LLB. He founded and became the first director (1969–1971) of the Vancouver Community Legal Assistance Society, reputedly Canada's first community law office.
Harcourt served as a Vancouver alderman from 1973 to 1980. He was first elected as a member of the Electors' Action Movement (TEAM). He left the party in 1976 after he lost the party's nomination for mayor to Jack Volrich. He was Mayor of Vancouver from 1980 to 1986. As mayor, his term in office was dominated by planning for Expo 86, an event that saw many new developments come to the city, and an event he adamantly opposed coming to the city in the first place.[citation needed]
Mayor Michael Harcourt was the very first Mayor in any city to declare an Animal Rights Day (Proclamation at lifeforcefoundation.org) It was August 3, 1983 and hereafter as requested by Peter Hamilton, Lifeforce Foundation.[citation needed]
He was first elected to the British Columbia Legislature in the 1986 British Columbia election. He became the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) and the leader of the Official Opposition in the following year. He was considered to be a moderate within the ranks of his social democratic party.
In the 1991 provincial election, Harcourt led the NDP back to power, defeating the Social Credit party led by Rita Johnston. That marked the second time that the NDP had ever been in power in British Columbia (BC) and the first since 1975.
On taking office, Harcourt's government increased the basic rate of monthly social assistance by 5%, from $500 to $525. By 1993, it had reached $535 per month, coupled with increases in other rates and a relaxation of means testing of applicants. As Ralph Klein introduced severe spending cuts in neighbouring Alberta, Harcourt accused him in December 1993 of driving Albertan welfare recipients into British Columbia. An increase in out-of-province applications for income assistance and surge in welfare rolls and spending (The Vancouver Sun noted in 1993 that almost 10% of the population were claiming social assistance), coupled with a shift towards an intolerant view of welfare fraud in Canadian politics, affected the government's standing. A controversial news story about welfare fraud among British Columbia's Somali Canadian community, after the government had denied that system abuse was taking place, further hurt its standing.
Harcourt reacted by abandoning his social democratic policy and moving to the right on welfare. He fired Joan Smallwood as Minister of Social Services, replaced her with Joy MacPhail, reduced welfare rates, and made it more difficult for families to claim assistance. Announcing the policy shift in September 1993, he infamously described it as a crackdown on "cheats, deadbeats and varmints". He later expressed regret for those comments by blaming a "relentless" coverage of welfare fraud causes by the media for the action. The resulting BC Benefits welfare reform package, which included budget cuts, new restrictions, and a reduction in the basic rate to $500 per month, the same it had been when Harcourt took office, proved hard to accept for the NDP and had a lasting effect on its reputation by hampering its attempts to condemn later governments for undertaking similar welfare crackdowns.
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Mike Harcourt
Michael Franklin Harcourt OC (born January 6, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia's largest city, from 1980 to 1986.
Harcourt was student council president at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School and studied at the University of British Columbia, where he graduated BA and LLB. He founded and became the first director (1969–1971) of the Vancouver Community Legal Assistance Society, reputedly Canada's first community law office.
Harcourt served as a Vancouver alderman from 1973 to 1980. He was first elected as a member of the Electors' Action Movement (TEAM). He left the party in 1976 after he lost the party's nomination for mayor to Jack Volrich. He was Mayor of Vancouver from 1980 to 1986. As mayor, his term in office was dominated by planning for Expo 86, an event that saw many new developments come to the city, and an event he adamantly opposed coming to the city in the first place.[citation needed]
Mayor Michael Harcourt was the very first Mayor in any city to declare an Animal Rights Day (Proclamation at lifeforcefoundation.org) It was August 3, 1983 and hereafter as requested by Peter Hamilton, Lifeforce Foundation.[citation needed]
He was first elected to the British Columbia Legislature in the 1986 British Columbia election. He became the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) and the leader of the Official Opposition in the following year. He was considered to be a moderate within the ranks of his social democratic party.
In the 1991 provincial election, Harcourt led the NDP back to power, defeating the Social Credit party led by Rita Johnston. That marked the second time that the NDP had ever been in power in British Columbia (BC) and the first since 1975.
On taking office, Harcourt's government increased the basic rate of monthly social assistance by 5%, from $500 to $525. By 1993, it had reached $535 per month, coupled with increases in other rates and a relaxation of means testing of applicants. As Ralph Klein introduced severe spending cuts in neighbouring Alberta, Harcourt accused him in December 1993 of driving Albertan welfare recipients into British Columbia. An increase in out-of-province applications for income assistance and surge in welfare rolls and spending (The Vancouver Sun noted in 1993 that almost 10% of the population were claiming social assistance), coupled with a shift towards an intolerant view of welfare fraud in Canadian politics, affected the government's standing. A controversial news story about welfare fraud among British Columbia's Somali Canadian community, after the government had denied that system abuse was taking place, further hurt its standing.
Harcourt reacted by abandoning his social democratic policy and moving to the right on welfare. He fired Joan Smallwood as Minister of Social Services, replaced her with Joy MacPhail, reduced welfare rates, and made it more difficult for families to claim assistance. Announcing the policy shift in September 1993, he infamously described it as a crackdown on "cheats, deadbeats and varmints". He later expressed regret for those comments by blaming a "relentless" coverage of welfare fraud causes by the media for the action. The resulting BC Benefits welfare reform package, which included budget cuts, new restrictions, and a reduction in the basic rate to $500 per month, the same it had been when Harcourt took office, proved hard to accept for the NDP and had a lasting effect on its reputation by hampering its attempts to condemn later governments for undertaking similar welfare crackdowns.