Dick Harris

In both sessions of the 35th Parliament Harris sat on the 'Standing Committee on Government Operations' and the 'Standing Committee on Transport'.

In the first session he was also assigned to two subcommittees: the 'Subcommittee on the St. Lawrence Seaway' and the 'Subcommittee on the Consideration of the Objections Filed on the Proposed Electoral Boundaries for the Western Provinces'.

He has served a member on several parliamentary committees, including the 'Standing Committee on Finance' during the 36th and 37th Parliaments and the 'Standing Committee on Natural Resources' during the 39th, and 40th Parliaments.

Harris became the Vice-Chair of the 'Standing Committee on Finance' in both sessions of the 36th Parliament, as well as being the Reform Party's assistant critic on Finance.

Meanwhile, a division formed within the Reform Party as the leader, Preston Manning, explored merging the party with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

The second bill : An Act to amend the Criminal Code (failure to stop at scene of accident) was introduced in the 38th Parliament but was not adopted.

In the 41st Parliament he sat on the Veteran's Affairs Committee.

He has introduced three Private Member Bills into the House of Commons.

The first two bills were introduced when he was a member of the opposition.

The first bill, having to do with penalties for drunk driving was defeated, however, the government felt that the content of the bill was worthy of introducing a similar bill which was passed.

Richard M. Harris (born September 6, 1944) is a Canadian politician.

Politically, Harris had been a supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party for 20 years before joining the Reform Party in 1989.

He was active in fundraising and became chairman of the Reform Fund Canada.

He served on the party's executive council from 1991 to 1993.

In 1992, Harris won the Reform Party nomination to stand for election in the next federal election in the Prince George–Bulkley Valley riding.

He was a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2015 and sat as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

He was previously member of the Reform Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance.

He was first elected during the 1993 federal election and was re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011.

He challenged Reform Party leader Preston Manning for leadership when Manning proposed merging the party with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

He later campaigned for Stockwell Day to become leader.

The next federal election was held in October 1993.

The race in the Prince George–Bulkley Valley riding was expected to be close between Harris and the incumbent MP, Brian Gardiner (NDP).

However, his party placed third and the Liberal Party of Canada formed a majority government.

In July 1994, Reform Party leader Preston Manning formed a three-member critic team for Indian Affairs and Northern Development with Harris, Mike Scott and John Duncan.

The team held town hall-style meetings in BC where they opposed independent self-governments but advocated for municipal-style governments on reserves, like the Sechelt Indian Government District, and warned that land claims could be costly and usurp private property rights.

The three member team was unable to draw sufficient attention to the Reform Party's position on native affairs, so the team was disbanded in December 1994 and Harris reassigned to the "Reform Posse", a special team of Reform Party MPs (Harris, Jay Hill and Randy White) meant to investigate government spending, similar to the Liberal Party of Canada Rat Pack.

With the assistance of a forensic accountant, the Reform Posse investigated the Department of Indian Affairs but Manning disbanded them in August 1995 and Harris was reassigned to be the Reform Party's deputy critic of public works.

He was subsequently reassigned to be the assistant critic on Transport in February 1997, a role he filled until the end of the parliamentary session in June.

The next election was held in June 1997 and Harris won re-election with 54% of the vote in the Prince George—Bulkley Valley riding.

The Liberal Party again formed a majority government but Harris' Reform Party formed the Official Opposition.

In April 1999, Harris became the 13th Reform Party MP to publicly oppose a merger, saying "There's nothing wrong with our product. There's nothing wrong with our brand-label. Maybe the salesmen communicating the message are not the right people out there."

The most prominent position he held with his party was Chief Opposition Whip from 2001 to 2002.

He generated controversy when he appointed an unelected, Conservative Party member to represent a neighbouring electoral district in governmental affairs, though the electoral district had an elected Member of Parliament, but from an opposition party.

From 2004 to 2015, he represented the electoral district of Cariboo—Prince George, and formerly represented Prince George–Bulkley Valley.

In Fiscal Year 2009-10 he was the top spending Member of Parliament, and had the largest hospitality and lowest advertising expenditures of any house member.

His third private members bill was introduced during the 41st Parliament; An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (incarceration) was introduced in October 2011.

Dick Harris was born in Vancouver but, along with a brother, he was raised in Prince Rupert, British Columbia by his mother, a single parent.

After finishing school he moved to Prince George, married and raised three children.

A businessman, he owned and operated several companies in Prince George and the Cariboo region.

His most successful company specialized in tires and distribution of tire parts, though he sold the companies before being elected as a Member of Parliament.