Elijah Harper (March 3, 1949 – May 17, 2013) was a Canadian Oji-Cree politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (MLA) from 1981 to 1992 and a member of Parliament (MP) from 1993 to 1997. Harper was elected chief of the Red Sucker Lake Indian Band in 1978, serving for four years and worked as a policy analyst prior to entering politics. He was a key factor in the rejection of the Meech Lake Accord, a proposed amendment of the Canadian constitution.

Early life and education

Harper was born in Red Sucker Lake, a reserve in northern Manitoba. He attended residential schools in Norway House, Brandon and Birtle, Manitoba, then secondary school at Garden Hill and Winnipeg. He studied at the University of Manitoba in 1971 and 1972. He later worked as a community development worker, a supervisor for the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, and a program analyst for the Manitoba Department of Northern Affairs.

Political career

In 1978, he was elected as the Chief for Red Sucker Lake Band (now Red Sucker Lake First Nation), a position he held for four years.

In 1981, Harper contested and won the sprawling northern Manitoba riding of Rupertsland for the New Democratic Party (NDP) to become the first Treaty Indian to be elected as a provincial politician. He was re-elected in the 1986 Manitoba general election. On April 17, 1986, he was appointed to cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio, responsible for Native Affairs. On February 4, 1987, he was named minister of northern affairs and minister in charge of the Communities Economic Fund Act.

Harper was dropped from the Cabinet on September 9, 1987, after being involved in a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. No one was injured in the incident. Harper subsequently pleaded guilty to refusing a breathalyzer test, leaving the scene of an accident and driving while impaired. He was fined $450, and his driver's licence was suspended for a year. Harper acknowledged his mistake, and entered an alcohol-rehabilitation program. He stopped drinking for good, and voluntarily stopped driving for five years. He was reappointed as minister of northern affairs and minister responsible for native affairs, on November 23, 1987, and served in that role until the defeat of Howard Pawley's government in 1988. He was again re-elected at the 1988 Manitoba general election.

Role in Meech Lake Accord

In 1990, Harper achieved national fame for his refusal to accept the Meech Lake Accord, a constitutional amendment package negotiated to gain Quebec's acceptance of the Constitution Act, 1982. Under the Manitoba legislature's rules of the day, the legislature had to unanimously consent to a motion for emergency debate that would bring the Accord up for vote. Harper was displeased that the Accord had been negotiated in 1987 without the input of Canada's First Nations.

There were only twelve days before the ratification deadline for the Accord. Each day, the Manitoba government requested unanimous consent in the Assembly to consider the resolution. Each day, Harper, while holding an eagle feather, denied unanimous consent, so the resolution could not be debated. As a result, Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells cancelled a proposed vote on the Accord in the General Assembly of Newfoundland. Since the Meech Lake Accord failed to pass in both Manitoba and Newfoundland, the constitution was not amended. The same year, he won the Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Award, was voted as the "Newsmaker of the Year in Canada" by the Canadian Press, was awarded the title of Honorary Chief for Life by Red Sucker Lake First Nation, and received a commemorative medal of Canada from the governor general for his efforts in public service.

Personal life and death

Harper had some personal controversy. Creditors as well as his ex-wife sued him for financial claims in 1991.

Harper also had health problems. In the autumn of 1994 he had a mysterious illness doctors and native healers could not explain. On May 17, 2013, he died of heart failure due to complications from diabetes in Ottawa.

On May 20, 2013, Harper's open casket was draped with the flag of Manitoba as he lay in state at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg where hundreds of supporters filed through to pay their respects. A funeral service took place later that day at the Glory and Peace Church in Winnipeg. Harper was buried at Red Sucker Lake First Nation.

Electoral history

References

  • Elijah Harper - Legislative Assembly of Manitoba