Dan Harris (politician)

Dan Harris (born August 3, 1979) is a Canadian New Democratic Party politician, who represented the riding of Scarborough Southwest from 2011 to 2015. He served as the NDP's Critic for Post-Secondary Education.

Dan Harris
Harris in July 2013
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Scarborough Southwest
In office May 2, 2011 – August 4, 2015
Preceded by	Michelle Simson
Succeeded by	Bill Blair
Personal details
Born	August 3, 1979 Toronto, Ontario
Political party	New Democratic Party
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Profession	IT technician

Background

Harris grew up in east end Toronto. Before being elected, he worked as an IT technician and "Site Lead for VoIP Services and Implementation" at the Kearl Oil Sands Project for Unified Systems Group.[1] He has previously worked at the University of Toronto Students' Union as D.R.O. for their March 2010 Student Elections. As Web Coordinator at the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the summer of 2008. As a Manager of the Ontario NDP Fundraising PhoneBank in 2007–08. As the Support Team Leader at Web Networks 2001–2006 (part-time from 2005–06 while attending classes). As a C.S.R. Telerep at Answer Plus (an inbound call centre) in 1999–2000. Harris also worked as a Jr. Assistant and Assistant at N.Y.A.D. Not Your Average Daycare from 1995–1999.

His father David Harris was a teacher in Scarborough for 28 years until he retired in 2015. His family has a military tradition, since his great-grandfather served in both world wars. His grandmother was in the Canadian Women's Army Corps. His great-uncle, Bill Riley, was in the service in the Second World War and served in Europe.[2]

Education

Harris attended French language schools in Toronto until college, graduating from elementary school at École George Étienne Cartier in Toronto and École Secondaire Catholique Mgr-de-Charbonnel in North Toronto for secondary school. He also attended Seneca College, studying computer programming and analysis. In the fall of 2016 he took a graphic design program at Concordia University.

Politics

Harris first ran for office during the 2000 election in Scarborough Southwest, placing fourth behind Liberal incumbent Tom Wappel.[3] He tried again in the 2004 and 2006 elections, and also ran for Ward 35 in the 2006 Toronto municipal elections. Harris did not contest the 2008 federal election, but tried again in 2011—this time defeating Liberal incumbent Michelle Simson.[3]

Harris was named Deputy Critic for Science and Technology on June 2, 2011.[4] In the summer of 2012 Harris was named Deputy Industry Critic then on August 9, 2013 he became the Critic for Post-Secondary Education.

In February 2015 Harris was among a group of NDP MPs accused by the Board of Internal Economy (BOIE) of misspending taxpayers dollars by funding NDP satellite offices after the 2011 election. Harris was initially ordered to pay back $141,467 to Canadian taxpayers. The NDP indicated its intention to challenge the ruling in federal court.[5][6] In December 2015 Harris was exonerated by the House of Commons after providing proof that the Liberal and Conservative dominated BOIE had improperly charged him for staff working in his constituency office doing parliamentary work.[7][8]

In the 2015 Canadian federal election, Harris lost his riding to former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair.

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election: Scarborough Southwest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Bill Blair	25,586	52.47	+23.13	$153,155.47
	New Democratic	Dan Harris	11,574	23.73	-11.14	$48,940.84
	Conservative	Roshan Nallaratnam	10,347	21.22	-10.46	$64,631.85
	Green	Tommy Taylor	1,259	2.58	-1.48	$5,572.61
Total valid votes/Expense limit			48,766	100.0		$205,220.58
Total rejected ballots			277	0.56	–
Turnout			49,043	67.96	–
Eligible voters			72,164
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+17.13
Source: Elections Canada[9][10]

2011 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Dan Harris	14,113	35.04%	+16.29%
	Conservative	Gavan Paranchothy	12,828	31.85%	+2.34%
	Liberal	Michelle Simson	11,701	29.05%	-12.77%
	Green	Stefan Dixon	1,636	4.06	-5.43%
Total valid votes			40,278	100%
Turnout			–	59.1%

2006 Canadian federal election: Scarborough Southwest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Tom Wappel	19,930	47.83	−1.63	$31,803
	Conservative	Vincent Veerasuntharam	10,017	24.04	+0.26	$68,687
	New Democratic	Dan Harris	9,626	23.10	+0.79	$18,101
	Green	Valerie Philip	1,827	4.38	+0.38
	Independent	Trevor Sutton	147	0.35
	Communist	Elizabeth Rowley	120	0.29	−0.15	$280
Total valid votes			41,667	100.00
Total rejected ballots			189	0.45	−0.11
Turnout			41,856	62.37	+5.21
Electors on the lists			67,109
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

2004 Canadian federal election: Scarborough Southwest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Tom Wappel	18,776	49.46	−10.36	$47,511
	Conservative	Heather Jewell	9,028	23.78	−4.59	$63,040
	New Democratic	Dan Harris	8,471	22.31	+12.05	$21,397
	Green	Peter Van Dalen	1,520	4.00		not listed
	Communist	Elizabeth Rowley	168	0.44		$300
Total valid votes			37,963	100.00
Total rejected ballots			215	0.56	−0.10
Turnout			38,178	57.16	+3.73
Electors on the lists			66,797
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000.
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

2000 Canadian federal election: Scarborough Southwest
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Tom Wappel	21,466	60.01	+6.61	$47,146
	Progressive Conservative	Ellery Hollingsworth	5,251	14.68	+1.01	$14,019
	Alliance	Nabil El-Khazen	4,912	13.73	−6.72	$30,429
	New Democratic	Dan Harris	3,638	10.17	−1.05	$10,666
	Canadian Action	Walter Aolari	336	0.94		$4,886
	Communist	Dora Stewart	165	0.46		$202
Total valid votes			35,768	100.00
Total rejected ballots			237	0.66	−0.04
Turnout			36,005	53.43	−9.52
Electors on the lists			67,382
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

References

1. SCARBOROUGH SOUTHWEST: One-term incumbent seeks return to Parliament, Inside Toronto, April 28, 2011.
2. "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF).
3. "Scarborough Southwest: Harris wins seat for NDP". Inside Toronto. May 3, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29.
4. "Press release: Layton unveils shadow economic development team, deputy critics". NDP.ca. June 2, 2011. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
5. "Ex-NDP MPS Still on Hook for Tens of Thousands of Dollars". 2015-02-06.
6. "Scarborough MP Harris calls House ruling on owed money an 'egregious error'". 2015-07-30.
7. "Ex-NDP MP off the hook for $140K satellite office repayment to Commons | CBC News".
8. "Former Toronto NDP MP cleared of $140K in satellite offices dispute | CTV News".
9. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Scarborough Southwest, 30 September 2015
10. Elections Canada – Final Candidates Election Expenses Limits

External links

• Harris Dan Harris (politician) – Parliament of Canada biography
• http://www.backblast.net/pdf/ndp_experience.pdf