Michael Harcourt

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Mike Harcourt, former Premier of British Columbia

Michael Franklin Harcourt (born Edmonton January 6, 1943) served as the 30th Premier of the province of British Columbia in Canada from 1991 to 1996, and before that as mayor of BC's major city, Vancouver 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 obtained a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. Harcourt served as a Vancouver Alderman from 1973 to 1980, and as 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.

He was first elected to the British Columbia Legislature in the 1986 British Columbia provincial election. He became the leader of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia (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. This marked the second time that the NDP had ever been in power in BC, and the first since 1975.

Harcourt resigned as premier in February 1996 as the result of "Bingogate", a scandal in which an NDP member, David Stupich, used money raised by a charity bingo to fund the party. While Harcourt had nothing to do with the scandal, he took political responsibility for it. He was succeeded as Premier of B.C. by Attorney General Glen Clark, who also ended up resigning as the result of another scandal.

After serving as premier, Harcourt was associated with the University of British Columbia. He was involved in research relating to cities.

He was severely injured in a near-fatal fall in November 2002, which resulted in a severe spinal-cord injury. The former Premier received a widespread outpouring of sympathy and support from his fellow British Columbians and his rapid recovery astonished doctors. He later published a book about his ordeal, called Plan B.

Harcourt has remained a popular politician since his retirement. In contrast to his successor Glen Clark, who remains a very polarizing figure, many British Columbians regard Harcourt's term in office as a sort of "golden era" for the NDP. His moderate policies and willingness to resign rather than be associated with scandal have helped the former premier retain a favorable reputation, even in retirement.

He was named as a special advisor to Prime Minister Paul Martin on cities on December 12, 2003.

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