Harvey Patterson
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Harvey Norman Murray Patterson (born September 12, 1924 in Roland, Manitoba) is a retired politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1973 to 1975. His term in office is usually remembered for the controversial nature of his election.
Patterson was educated at Manitoba University (not to be confused with the University of Manitoba), and served overseas with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in World War II. In 1961, he was a delegate to the founding convention of the New Democratic Party in Ottawa, Ontario.
He was actively involved in Winnipeg's labour movement, serving as President of the Winnipeg Labour Council in the early 1970s (at a time when the WLC was losing members to the Manitoba Federation of Labour). He was also the chairman for the province's 1970 Panel on Labour Relations and its 1971 Panel on Human Rights and Consumer Affairs.
In the provincial election of 1973, Patterson ran for the NDP in the Winnipeg riding of Crescentwood against Progressive Conservative Lawrie Pollard and Liberal June Menzies. The result was announced as a tie between Patterson and Pollard, with each receiving 3729 votes. The returning officer, Jim Maloway, then cast a tie-breaking vote for Patterson. Although such tie-breaking votes are accepted legal practice in the British parliamentary tradition, Maloway was the first returning officer to cast such a vote in Manitoba's history.
After an investigation into the ballot-counting process, Patterson's election was declared void on February 20, 1975. He ran again in the succeeding by-election, but finished third against Progressive Conservative Warren Steen and Liberal leader Charles Huband. He did not seek a return to public office after this time.
In 1978, Patterson became Executive Secretary of the Winnipeg Labour Council. He retired in the mid-1980s.
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