Dick Harris Richard M . " Dick " Harris ( born September 6 , 1944 ) is a Canadian politician . He is a Member of Parliament and member of the Conservative Party of Canada . He also was a member of the Reform Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance . He represents the electoral district of Cariboo — Prince George , and formerly Prince George – Bulkley Valley . He was first elected during the 1993 federal election and was re - elected in 1997 , 2000 , 2004 , 2006 , 2008 and 2011 . He challenged Reform Party leader Preston Manning for leadership when Manning proposed merging the party with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada . He later campaigned for Stockwell Day to become leader . The most prominent position he held with his party was Chief Opposition Whip from 2001 to 2002 . He generated controversy when he appointed an unelected , Conservative Party member to represent a neighbouring electoral district in governmental affairs , though the electoral district had an elected Member of Parliament , but from an opposition party . In Fiscal Year 2009 - 10 he was the top spending Member of Parliament , and had the largest hospitality and lowest advertising expenditures of any house member . He has served a member on several parliamentary committees , including the ' Standing Committee on Finance ' during the 36th and 37th Parliaments and the ' Standing Committee on Natural Resources ' during the 39th , and 40th Parliaments . In the 41st Parliament he sat on the Veteran ' s Affairs Committee . He has introduced three Private Member Bills into the House of Commons . The first two bills were introduced when he was a member of the opposition . The first bill , having to do with penalties for drunk driving was defeated , however , the government felt that the content of the bill was worthy of introducing a similar bill which was passed . The second bill : " An Act to amend the Criminal Code " ( failure to stop at scene of accident ) was introduced in the 38th Parliament but was not adopted . His third private members bill was introduced during the 41st Parliament ; " An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act " ( incarceration ) was introduced in October 2011 . Before becoming a Member of Parliament . Dick Harris was born in Vancouver but , along with a brother , he was raised in Prince Rupert , British Columbia by his mother , a single parent . After finishing school he moved to Prince George , married and raised three children . A businessman , he owned and operated several companies in Prince George and the Cariboo region . His most successful company specialized in tire s and distribution of tire parts , though he sold the companies before being elected as a Member of Parliament . Politically , Harris had been a supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party for 20 years before joining the Reform Party in 1989 . He was active in fundraising and became chairman of the Reform Fund Canada . He served on the party ' s executive council from 1991 to 1993 . In 1992 , Harris won the Reform Party nomination to stand for election in the next federal election in the Prince George – Bulkley Valley riding . 35th Parliament . The next federal election was held in October 1993 . The race in the Prince George – Bulkley Valley riding was expected to be close between Harris and the incumbent MP , Brian Gardiner ( NDP ) . However , his party placed third and the Liberal Party of Canada formed a majority government . In both sessions of the 35th Parliament Harris sat on the ' Standing Committee on Government Operations ' and the ' Standing Committee on Transport ' . In the first session he was also assigned to two subcommittees : the ' Subcommittee on the St . Lawrence Seaway ' and the ' Subcommittee on the Consideration of the Objections Filed on the Proposed Electoral Boundaries for the Western Provinces ' . In July 1994 , Reform Party leader Preston Manning formed a three member critic team for Indian Affairs and Northern Development with Harris , Mike Scott and John Duncan . The team held town hall - style meetings in BC where they opposed independent self - governments but advocated for municipal - style governments on reserves , like the Sechelt Indian Government District , and warned that land claims could be costly and usurp private property rights . The three member team was unable to draw sufficient attention to the Reform Party ' s position on native affairs , so the team was disbanded in December 1994 and Harris re - assigned to the " Reform Posse " , a special team of Reform Party MPs ( Harris , Jay Hill and Randy White ) meant to investigate government spending , similar to the Liberal Party of Canada Rat Pack . With the assistance of a forensic accountant , the Reform Posse investigated the Department of Indian Affairs but Manning disbanded them in August 1995 and Harris was re - assigned to be the Reform Party ' s deputy critic of public works . He was subsequently re - assigned to be the assistant critic on Transport in February 1997 , a role he filled until the end of the parliamentary session in June . 36th Parliament . The next election was held in June 1997 and Harris won re - election with 54 % of the vote in the Prince George — Bulkley Valley riding . The Liberal Party again formed a majority government but Harris ' Reform Party formed the Official Opposition . Harris became the Vice - Chair of the ' Standing Committee on Finance ' in both sessions of the 36th Parliament , as well as being the Reform Party ' s assistant critic on Finance . Meanwhile , a division formed within the Reform Party as the leader , Preston Manning , explored merging the party with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada . In April 1999 , Harris became the 13th Reform Party MP to publicly oppose a merger , saying " There ' s nothing wrong with our product . There ' s nothing wrong with our brand - label . Maybe the salesmen communicating the message are not the right people out there . " Harris was concerned that they would have to compromise on their opposition to official bilingualism and positions on Senate reform , family values , and justice issues . A referendum within the Reform Party on whether to explore a merger plan was called and Harris debated Manning on the issue at Reform Party events . Harris paid for national advertising opposing the merger idea and co - signed a letter distributed to all 59 Reform Party MPs which said " A Yes vote in May would be a tactical disaster . . . [ the ] Reform [ Party ] will be perceived as having already decided to commit suicide " . The referendum passed with 60 % voting in favour of a merger , dubbed the ' United Alternative ' . Committees were formed to investigate a plan for merger and Harris joined the policy committee . A second referendum was set for the Reform Party ' s convention in March 2000 to decide on whether to pursue the merger . Harris , in January 2000 , still opposed to the United Alternative , and announced his candidacy for leader of the party — a challenge to party leader Manning who was campaigning for the merger . Harris immediately assigned a campaign chairman and launched a nationwide membership and fund - raising drives . The 55 - year old Harris viewed his campaign as staying true to the Reform Party ' s roots in populism and rejecting the Progressive Conservative Party ' s " elitist politics " . Manning and those who favoured the United Alternative , like Reform Party MP Jay Hill ( Prince George — Peace River ) with whom Harris shared a constituency office in Prince George , saw the merger as the best way to form a government . Harris viewed the push for the United Alternative as a top - down initiative by Manning and a small group of advisers and called the United Alternative an " unholy alliance " . At a late - January meeting , party members voted against launching a leadership review , ending Harris ' leadership bid . At a later meeting , in March , party members voted in favour of dissolving the Reform Party of Canada and re - forming as the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance with a new constitution and policy planks better suited for a merger with the Progressive Conservatives . When it came time to select a leader , Harris endorsed Stockwell Day , an Albertan provincial politician who went on to defeat Manning . 37th Parliament . In the November 2000 election Harris , as a member of the Canadian Alliance , was again re - elected in the Prince George – Bulkley Valley riding , this time with 59 % of the vote . The Canadian Alliance again formed the Official Opposition to the Liberal Party ' s majority government . In the first session of the 37th Parliament , Harris served as a vice - chair of the ' Standing Committee on Finance ' , and a member of the ' Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs ' , the ' Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages ' , and the ' Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations ' . Fellow Canadian Alliance were criticizing the performance of their leader , Stockwell Day , during the election . In response , Day shuffled the responsibilities of his MPs in April 2001 , demoting Opposition House Leader Chuck Strahl and promoting Harris to Chief Opposition Whip . Day and Harris took aggressive stances by forbidding public criticism . Art Hanger immediately spoke out against them to the media and was subsequently removed from caucus . On May 16 , several Day loyalist , including Harris , co - signed a letter directed at the remaining caucus members acknowledging rumours of a parallel caucus being formed but that could not be " tolerated " . The letter re - stated the formal responsibilities that all Canadian Alliance MPs agreed to and that " members will be breaching their formal written word , given to the leader , the party and their constituency , as a condition of their nomination " if they were found to " publicly attack any other colleague , the leader or the party " . 38th Parliament . In preparation for the 2004 election Harris was challenged by Williams Lake dentist Elmer Thiessen for the Conservative Party nomination . On the evening of the vote , the nomination committee headed by Dan MacLaren , a declared Theissen supporter , apparently violated Election Canada rules by unilaterally extending the vote count beyond the legal period in order to receive late mail - in ballots . Harris was in the lead before the extension decision was made . After protests , based on Elections Canada rules that all ballots must be in by the time of counting , the party ordered a second ballot take place due to voting irregularities and that constituency association officials purposely restricted voting to Williams Lake only . Harris won on the second ballot by 16 votes . The RCMP launched an investigation into Harris for alleged financial irregularities . The investigation concluded that there was no valid evidence pointing to financial irregularities . Harris went on to win the election in the Cariboo — Prince George riding with 46 % of the vote and his party again formed the Official Opposition to the Liberal Party . In the 38th Parliament , Harris , as a member of the opposition , introduced one bill into the House of Commons : Bill C - 275 " An Act to amend the Criminal Code " ( failure to stop at scene of accident ) . Bill C - 275 received first reading on November 15 , 2004 . In his sponsor ' s speech Harris said , The Minister of Justice did not support bill based on its lack of distinction between intentionally and unintentionally not stopping at the scene of accident and its dis - proportionality to other crimes , so the bill was voted down , 194 to 94 , on June 22 , 2005 . Meanwhile , his constituency association ( most of whom had supported Harris ' nomination challenger , Elmer Thiessen ) formed a committee , once again headed by Dan MacLaren , to investigate the financial irregularities charges , eventually finding charges to be valid . The constituency association held an election in February 2005 for their board of directors . The new board withdrew the previous board ' s findings against Harris . A month later , the RCMP dropped its investigation due to " insufficient information " . A new constituency office was opened in Williams Lake in September 2004 and an office in Quesnel in November 2005 . 39th Parliament . There were no challenges to Harris for the Conservative Party nomination for the January 2006 election . He went on to win the Cariboo — Prince George riding with 50 % of the vote and this time Harris ' party won and formed the government . In the 39th Parliament , he served as a member of the ' Standing Committee on Natural Resources ' for both sessions and as a member on the ' Legislative Committee on Bill C - 2 ' ( " Tackling Violent Crime Act " ) during the second session . Harper appointed Harris to be the chair of the British Columbia Conservative Caucus and the party ' s national forestry caucus . Harris generated controversy in August 2007 when , as chair of the BC Conservative Caucus , he appointed Houston mayor Sharon Smith as the " government go - to person " in neighbouring electoral district Skeena — Bulkley Valley . He told residents , through the media , to approach Smith rather than elected local MP Nathan Cullen , a member of an opposition party , for help with government services or lobbying for federal funding . Conservative Party spokesman Ryan Sparrow said this was not sanctioned by the party and that local residents should use their elected member of parliament . Another controversy arose when it was discovered that the Conservative Party used an " in - and - out " plan to have regional offices pay for national advertising during an election period . Opposition parties contended that the Conservatives did this to avoid campaign financing limits and attain reimbursement for the costs through Election Canada . Harris ' campaign was one of many who participated ( with $ 30 , 000 - 36 % of his total campaign expenses for advertising ) , though Harris and the party maintain that they kept within the law . 40th Parliament . In the October 2008 election Harris was re - elected in the Cariboo — Prince George riding with 55 % of the vote and his party again formed a minority government . During the campaign he received criticism for being " invisible " and living a semi - retired life in Kelowna some 600 km from his constituency . Harris maintained an apartment in Prince George on Range Road during this period . He does not own property in Kelowna . However , he responded to specific residency questions by suggesting that his long - term residence ( over 50 years in the area ) in Prince George qualifies him to represent the region . In the 40th Parliament , he served as a member of the ' Standing Committee on International Trade ' in the 2nd session and on the ' Standing Committee on Natural Resources ' during the 3rd session . He retained his chairmanship of the Conservative ' s national forestry caucus and the BC Caucus . Government opposition members and local critics , called Harris to task for failing to read the Canada / US Softwood Lumber Agreement , however , letters to newspapers from the major forestry companies in his province supported him for the work he did on their behalf during the Softwood Lumber negotiations . 41st Parliament . As the incumbent seeking re - election , there were no nomination challenges and Harris was automatically acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate in Cariboo — Prince George riding . In the May 2011 election he faced UNBC student Jon Van Barneveld for the NDP , rancher Heidi Redl for the Green Party , UBC student Sangeeta Lalli for the Liberal Party , pilot Henry Thiessen for the Christian Heritage Party , UNBC student Jordan Turner for the Rhinoceros Party , and independent Jon Ronan . While Jon Van Barneveld was likely Harris ' greatest opponent since his first election , Harris won the riding with 56 % of the vote and his Conservative Party formed a majority government . During the 2011 election , Harris came under fire by Van Barneveld and the media based on his vote on a national wood - first policy in the previous parliament As the 41st Parliament began , Harris was assigned to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources and then moved to the Standing Committee on Veterans ' Affairs . In the first session Harris introduced a Private Member ' s Bill ( C - 316 ) " An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act ( incarceration ) " which will make time spent in jail ineligible as wait times in qualifying for employment insurance . His private member ' s bill was introduced in October 2011 and passed by the House of Commons in May 2012 . As of October 2012 , the bill was being studied by the Senate . Harris said that the significant safety enhancements to the proposed Enbridge Gateway pipeline project , go far beyond industry standards , and will ensure that “ next generation ” safety provisions , and structural integrity , will be present throughout the entire line .