Jim Harris (politician)

File:Jim of the Greens.jpeg

Jim Harris' 2006 election campaign photo.

James R. M. "Jim" Harris (born February 12, 1961) is a Canadian author and politician. He is the leader Green Party of Canada since 2003 but has announced he will not run for re-election as party leader at the Green Party's convention in August 2006.^[1].

Early life and Green activism

Harris was born in Toronto, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History from Queen's University in Kingston in the 1980s.^[2] Initially a Progressive Conservative,^[3] he was converted to green politics in 1985 after reading Green Politics by Fritjof Capra and Charlene Spretnak, highlighting the rise of the German Greens. Harris worked as the National Press Officer of the British Green Party in 1987.^[4]

He helped organize the Ontario Green Party's campaign in the 1990 provincial election, and was himself a candidate in the Toronto division of St. Andrew—St. Patrick.^[5] During the election, he spoke out against a provincial government decision to build more nuclear reactors for the province.^[6] The Green Party fielded 40 candidates and received 33,000 votes, a significant increase from seven candidates and 3,000 votes in the previous 1987 election. Harris finished fourth in his constituency.

He campaigned for Mayor of Toronto in the 1991 municipal election, as an independent candidate supporting green policies. Harris called for water conservation and a ban on city pesticide spraying, and supported stricter gun control.^[7] Considered a fringe candidate, he finished well behind frontrunners June Rowlands and Jack Layton.

In 1993, Harris and other Ontario Greens sought and won a change in the party's constitution allowing for the election of a full-time leader. The party had been nominally led by Katherine Mathewson in the 1990 election, but she held little influence over the campaign or policy. Harris and others argued that electing a full-time leader would allow the Green Party to organize professionally, and present a united message in future elections. Harris stood for the leadership, and lost to Frank de Jong. De Jong later supported Harris in his bid to become federal leader, while Harris endorsed de Jong's bid for re-election as provincial leader in 2001.^[8]

Harris was a Toronto organizer for the federal Green Party for the 1993 election, recruiting seventeen candidates in the area. New legislation brought in before the election required a party to run 50 candidate or suffer de-registration and lose its assets. By fielding seventeen candidates in the Toronto region (which then had roughly twenty-two ridings) the Toronto team presented over one-third of the national requirement. Harris stood for election in St. Paul's, and finished sixth.

Harris campaigned for the Green Party of Canada leaderhip in 1997, and finished second against Joan Russow.^[9] He was elected as the first president of the Green Party of Ontario in 2001, and served in that capacity until moving to the federal arena in 2003.

Author and speaker

Harris has written six books, two of which have been national best-sellers in Canada. He also delivers speeches on change and leadership in the corporate world, and was forced to miss at least one campaign appearance in 2004 to fulfill a prior speaking engagement.^[10] Association Magazine has ranked him as one of Canada's top speakers. He spoke at about fifty international conferences a year before becoming GPC leader, and conducts strategic planning sessions with executive teams on leadership, change, CRM, eLearning, innovation and creating learning organizations.

His second book, The Learning Paradox, was nominated for the National Business Book Award in Canada and appeared on several bestseller lists. In this work, Harris argues that Canadians should embrace new learning to gain useable skills for a business community grounded in rapid technological change.^[11] Books for Business ranked it as one of the top-10 business books in North America. Harris co-authored the second edition of The 100 Best Companies to Work for in Canada, which sold over 50,000 copies in Canada. His most recent book, Blindsided!, has been published in over 80 countries.^[12]

National leader

2004 campaign

Harris was elected leader of the Green Party of Canada on February 14, 2003, defeating Jason Crummey and John Grogan in his second leadership bid with over 81% of votes cast by the delegates.^[13] He replaced interim leader Chris Bradshaw, who led the party from 2001 to 2003.

Harris has attempted to shift the GPC away from an exclusively environmentalist message, and has often described the party's ideology as socially progressive and fiscally conservative.^[14] Harris has rejected the argument that voting for the GPC will elect Conservative candidates through vote-splitting, arguing that his party takes support from across the traditional political spectrum.^[15]

The party conducted a high-profile campaign in the 2004 election under Harris's leadership, running candidates in all federal ridings for the first time in its history. The 2004 GPC platform, produced by wiki technology called LivingPlatform, emphasized full cost accounting, triple bottom line and the green tax shift.^[16] The party's fiscal policy supported taxing resources rather than incomes, and included increases in gasoline taxes and land taxes. It also included tax cuts on corporate income, which alienated some left-of-centre Greens.

Despite their increased profile, Greens were not invited to the leadership debates. Harris complained of a double-standard as the Bloc Québécois had been included despite not fielding candidates in all ridings. The CRTC defended the right of the broadcasters' consortium to decide on participants and refused to overturn his exclusion.^[17]

On the eve of the election, he predicted that the Greens would win nine seats.^[18] The party received 582,247 votes (4.3%), their best campaign performance so far and which was enough to enable the party to receive federal funding, but failed to elect any candidates. Harris campaigned in Toronto—Danforth and finished fourth against New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton with 2,575 votes (5.4%) -- 400 votes behind the Conservative candidate.

Criticism and 2004 leadership challenge

Harris's leadership of the Green Party has been controversial. He describes himself as an ecological conservative and eco-capitalist, and has attempted to shift the party to the right on some issues.^[19] Some in the GPC criticized Harris in August 2004 for hiring David Scrymgeour, a former national director of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and aide to Jim Flaherty, as an advisor.^[20] His opponents have also accused him of shifting too much authority to the party leadership, while reducing the power of local associations.

After the 2004 election, Harris was challenged for the leadership by Tom Manley, a prominent party activist from eastern Ontario. Manley argued that Harris was taking the GPC too far to the right, and was abandoning the party's traditional emphasis on local production in favour of corporate interests.^[21] Harris won re-election as GPC leader in August 2004, though by a narrower margin than before.^[22] Manley was later appointed deputy leader. In 2005, he left the GPC to join the Liberals.

In June 2005, Richmond Hill city councillor Elio Di Iorio resigned from the GPC's national executive. His resignation letter accused Harris of poor leadership and financial mismanagement, and described him as "socially awkward, control-centric, and in my opinion, somewhat sociopathic".^[23] Some in the party have rejected Di Iorio's comments, while others have concurred. A number of other resignations were tendered by prominent Greens prior to Di Iorio's resignation, with many accusing Harris of mismanaging the party.^[24] Former leader Joan Russow has accused Harris of acting like a "dictator" in his management of the party.^[25]

Later in 2005, columnist Murray Dobbin wrote two articles accusing Harris of betraying his party's progressive principles and of using authoritarian methods to consolidate power. The second article, published in December 2005, noted that four of the party's eleven officers had resigned in protest or were suspended in the previous year, while a number of key positions were allowed to remain vacant. Dobbin also noted that Harris's opponents believe he was responsible for undermining the "Living Platform", ignoring fundraising and policy development, and reducing party democracy.^[26]

Harris's supporters have accused Dobbin of conducting a partisan smear campaign and ignoring Harris's environmental credentials. Bill Hulet has also defended Harris's efforts to reform the party structure, describing the existing system as an "absolute nightmare" because of consensus policy requirements that give small minorities the right to override majority decisions.^[27] Harris has defended his leadership of party, noting that its membership has increased significantly during his tenure.^[28]

2006 campaign

As in 2004, Harris unsuccessfully called for the Green Party to be included in the televised leadership debates for the 2006 election.^[29] Three days before the election, he predicted that his party would win one million votes.^[30] The Greens increased their total to 665,940 votes (4.5%), but again failed to elect any candidates. Harris was a candidate in Beaches—East York, and finished fourth against Liberal incumbent Maria Minna.

The GPC's internal divisions were revealed during the election when former assistant national organizer Matthew Pollesel accused Harris of mismanaging the party's finances. Pollesel arguing that over 50% of the party's subsidy grant from the 2004 election was being directed toward staff salaries, and called for Elections Canada to investigate possible wrongdoing.^[31] Harris described the accusation as "false, groundless and scurrilous", and indicated that he would sue Pollesel for libel.^[32] Dana Miller, another former party worker, later called on Elections Canada to investigate Harris's expenses from the 2004 leadership contest.^[33]

2006 leadership challenge

There will be an automatic leadership vote at the party's August 2006 convention. As of April, Jim Harris has not indicated if he will stand for re-election. David Chernushenko, who received the highest vote total of any Green Party candidate in the 2006 election with 10% of the ballot count in Ottawa Centre, has declared his candidacy for the leadership. Elizabeth May, former executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada and an Order of Canada recipient, is reportedly considering entering the race. Broadcaster David Suzuki is encouraging May to run.^[34]

On April 26, 2006, Harris announced he will not be running in the leadership contest and will be stepping down as leader at the convention.^[35]

External links

• Green Party of Canada: Jim Harris
• Jim Harris' business web site
• Election results in Toronto-Danforth, 2004
• CTV bio

Electoral record

Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row

2006 federal election: Beaches—East York
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
Liberal	(x)Maria Minna	20,678	40.39		New Democratic Party	Marilyn Churley	17,900	34.96		Conservative	Peter Conroy	9,238	18.04		Green	Jim Harris	3,106	6.07		Progressive Canadian	Jim Love	183	0.36		Marxist-Leninist	Roger Carter	91	0.18
Total valid votes			51,196	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			168
Turnout			51,364

Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP/row

2004 federal election: Toronto—Danforth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
New Democratic Party	Jack Layton	22,198	46.34	$72,101.01	Liberal	(x)Dennis Mills	19,803	41.34	$72,461.81	Conservative	Loftus Cuddy	2,975	6.21	$12,400.00	Green	Jim Harris	2,575	5.38	$11,139.51	Marijuana	Scott Yee	265	0.55	$0.00	Marxist-Leninist	Marcell Rodden	84	0.18	$0.00
Total valid votes			47,900	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			269
Turnout			48,169	64.10
Electors on the lists			75,151

Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row

1997 federal election: Toronto Centre—Rosedale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
Liberal	(x)Bill Graham	22,945	49.19	$48,649	New Democratic Party	David MacDonald	9,597	20.58	$44,147	Progressive Conservative	Stephen Probyn	8,993	19.28	$54,733	Reform	John Stewart	3,646	7.82	$21,213	Green	Jim Harris	577	1.24	$0	Canadian Action Party	Anthony Robert Pedrette	303	0.65	$767	Natural Law	Ron Parker	270	0.58	$0	Marxist-Leninist	Stephen Rutchinski	166	0.36	$0	N/A (Forward Canada)	Ted W. Culp	145	0.31	$435
Total valid votes			46,642	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			423
Turnout			47,065	67.01
Electors on the lists			70,234

Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row

1993 federal election: St. Paul's
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
Liberal	Barry Campbell	27,775	54.30	Progressive Conservative	Isabel Bassett	12,499	24.44	Reform	Paul Chaplin	5,727	11.20	New Democratic Party	David Jacobs	2,641	5.16	National	Mario Godlewski	1,259	2.46	Green	Jim Harris	481	0.94	Natural Law	Rick C. Weberg	313	0.61	Independent	Jim Conrad	245	0.48	Libertarian	Rick Stenhouse	108	0.21	Marxist-Leninist	David Gershuny	75	0.15	Abolitionist	Marion Velma Joyce	17	0.03	Commonwealth	Mike Twose	11	0.02
Total valid votes			51,151	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			397
Turnout			51,548	69.69
Electors on the lists			73,966

Election for Mayor, City of Toronto, 1991 municipal election

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
June Rowlands	113,993	58.53
Jack Layton	64,044	32.88
Susan Fish	8,123	4.17
Don Andrews	1,968	1.01
Jim Harris	1,760	0.90
Ken Campbell	1,708	0.88
Joe Young	1,196	0.61
William McKeown	1,023	0.53
Ben Kerr	952	0.49
Total valid votes	194,767	100.00

The above results are taken from the Toronto Star newspaper, 14 November 1991, E8.
The final official results were not significantly different.

Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP/row

1990 provincial election: St. Andrew—St. Patrick
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
New Democratic Party	Zanana Akande	10,321	34.45	Progressive Conservative	Nancy Jackman	9,241	30.85	Liberal	(x)Ron Kanter	8,938	29.84	Green	Jim Harris	1,112	3.71	Libertarian	Douglas Quinn	344	1.15
Total valid votes			29,956	100.00
Rejected, unmarked and discarded votes			377
Turnout			30,333	66.89
Electors on the lists			45,347

Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

Notes and sources

1. ^ "A sketch of Jim Harris, leader of the Green Party", Canadian Press NewsWire, 25 November 2005.
2. ^ Tim Naumetz, "Greens enjoy upsurge in polls", CanWest News, 13 April 2004, p. 1.
3. ^ Jim Harris profile, Globe and Mail, 2004 federal election.[36]
4. ^ Bruce DeMara, "Greens joins the race -- quirks and all", Toronto Star, 21 August 1990, A9.
5. ^ "St. Andrew-St. Patrick", Toronto Star, 3 September 1990, A7.
6. ^ "City of Toronto Mayor, Councillors", Toronto Star, 7 November 1991, G1.
7. ^ "Re-elect Frank de Jong as Leader of the Green Party of Ontario", web document, 2001. Harris's endorsement reads as follows: "I have only the greatest admiration for Frank de Jong. He is committed to Green Politics, he helps and nurtures people in the movement and has been tireless in building the party to a point where we will run candidates in all 103 ridings in Ontario. I can't think of anyone better qualified to lead the Ontario Greens into the 21st century."
8. ^ Alberta Green newsletter, Summer '97. Rachelle Small finished third. "Joan+Russow"+Harris+Small&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=20
9. ^ "Green leader's day job derails campaign stop", Windsor Star, 11 June 2004, A11.
10. ^ Michael Kane, "Embrace learning, author says", Calgary Herald, 31 October 1998, H1.
11. ^ Jim Harris profile, Globe and Mail.
12. ^ "Jim Harris - New Leader of the Green Party of Canada", Alberta Green, Spring 2003 (Volume 15 Number 1), p. 1. Harris received 437 votes, Grogan 76 and Crummey 24. "Jim+Harris"+"Jason+Crummey"+"John+Grogan"&hl=en
13. ^ "Green Party won't pull a Nader, says leader", Edmonton Journal, 29 May 2004, A4.
14. ^ "Greens not quite what the seem", Toronto Star, 14 June 2004, A18.
15. ^ Green Party of Canada, Living Platform (online document). [37] The "green tax shift" is explained here.
16. ^ "Green's Harris protests debate exclusion again", CTV news, 15 July 2004, 16:32 report. [38]
17. ^ Jonathan Woodward, "Green Party leader hopes to score nine seats today", The Province, 28 June 2004, A6.
18. ^ Doug Ward, "Fiscal conservative now ecological conservative", Vancouver Sun, 11 June 2004, A5.
19. ^ Bill Curry, "Controversial Tory joins Greens", Vancouver Sun, 20 August 2004, A6.
20. ^ Curry, "Controversial Tory"
21. ^ Draft Minutes, Ninth General Convention of the Green Party of Canada, 29 August 2004. Harris received 524 votes, against 352 for Manley and 74 for Grogan. [39]
22. ^ Elio di Iorio, resignation letter, 2005. [40]
23. ^ See for instance Hayley Easto, resignation letter, 2005 [41], Lise Racicot resigns GPC Council, 2005-06-10[42], Andy Shadrack resigns GPC Committee, 2005-06-15[43], Kathryn Holloway resigns GPC Council, committees and nomination, 2005-06-08 [44], Michael Oddy resigns GPC Shadow Cabinet, 2005-10-24, [45]. Some have described the resignations as provoking a "crisis" in the Green Party. See for instance this site, produced by Wiki technology, which is critical of Harris's leadership.
24. ^ Mary Nersessian, "Jim Harris: Jump on the Green train", CTV news, Election 2006 report. [46]
25. ^ Murray Dobbin, "Green Party Blues", The Walrus, July/August 2005 and Murray Dobbin, "Why the Greens aren't very Green", The Tyee, 16 December 2005. [47]
26. ^ Bill Hulet, review of "Green Party Blues", GreenPartyReview.ca, , 18 July 2005. [48]
27. ^ Mary Nersessian, "Jim Harris: Jump on the Green Train", CTV.ca, 2006.
28. ^ "Greens seeing red over televised election debates", Toronto Star, 4 December 2005, 04:50 report. [49]
29. ^ Mike Sadava, "Greens expect a million votes", Edmonton Journal, 21 January 2006, A5.
30. ^ Philip Jalsevac, "Greens believe in their leader", 20 December 2005, Kitchener-Waterloo Record, A5.
31. ^ Mary Agnes Welch, "Green Party leader to sue ex-worker", Winnipeg Free Press, 20 December 2005, A6.
32. ^ Dennis Bueckert, "New complaint aimed at Greens", Calgary Herald, 29 December 2005, A4.
33. ^ Dennis Beuckert, "Veteran environmentalist ponders Green Party leadership run", Canadian Press, April 14, 2006
34. ^ Gloria Galloway, to give up on Green leadership, Globe and Mail, April 26, 2006.

The federal and provincial electoral information is taken from Elections Canada and Elections Ontario.