Peter Harder (politician)

The Honourable
Peter Harder
PC
Representative of the Government in the Senate
In office
March 23, 2016 – December 31, 2019
Preceded byClaude Carignan (as Leader of the Government in the Senate)
Succeeded byMarc Gold
Canadian Senator
from Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 23, 2016
Nominated byJustin Trudeau
Appointed byDavid Johnston
ConstituencyOttawa
Personal details
Born (1952-08-25) August 25, 1952 (age 72)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Political partyProgressive Senate Group

V. Peter Harder PC (born August 25, 1952) is a former Canadian senior civil servant who was named to the Senate of Canada to represent Ontario on March 23, 2016, after the Prime Minister had announced his intention to recommend his appointment on March 18, 2016.[1] He served as Representative of the Government in the Senate from 2016 to 2019.[2]

A longtime senior bureaucrat in the Canadian civil service, he was deputy minister to the Minister of Foreign Affairs when he retired from the civil service in 2007.[3] He later became senior policy advisor for Denton's, a Canadian law firm and had a key role on Justin Trudeau's transition team following the 2015 election.[4] From 2009 to 2016, he served as the President of the Canada China Business Council, before his appointment as a senator.[5] On November 29, 2019, the Prime Minister's office announced[6] that Senator Harder would be stepping down from his position as Representative of the Government in the Senate effective December 31, 2019.[6] Senator Grant Mitchell retired as Government Liaison in the Senate, when Harder's successor was named the following month.[6]

On May 14, 2020, Harder joined the Progressive Senate Group. Explaining his move, Harder said he was concerned that partisanship in the Senate had been replaced by "majoritarianism" as the Independent Senators Group became the largest caucus, and wanted to be "part of a bulwark against that."[7]

  1. ^ "Trudeau to appoint seven new senators". The Globe and Mail, March 18, 2016.
  2. ^ "Justin Trudeau names seven new senators". The Toronto Star, March 18, 2016.
  3. ^ "Senior deputy minister resigns" Archived 2016-03-29 at the Wayback Machine. canada.com, January 25, 2007.
  4. ^ Kathryn May (October 21, 2015). "Peter Harder's job on Trudeau transition team praised by former bureacrats (sic)". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015.
  5. ^ Ballingall, Alex (July 3, 2019). "Federal government's Senate leader visits China as diplomatic feud continues". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "The Prime Minister announces changes to the Senate leadership". Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. Government of Canada. November 29, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  7. ^ Tasker, John Paul (May 14, 2020). "Former government point man Peter Harder joins the Progressive Senate Group". CBC News. Retrieved May 15, 2020.