Douglas Harkness

Who was Douglas Harkness?

Douglas Scott Harkness, PC OC GM ED, was a Canadian politician, teacher, farmer and former Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Canadian Artillery.

He was born in Toronto, Ontario and moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1929. He graduated from the University of Alberta, then farmed and taught school in the vicinity of Red Deer. He taught at Crescent Heights High School until 1939.

He fought during the Second World War and in 1943 was awarded the George Medal "in recognition of conspicuous gallantry in carrying out hazardous work in a very brave manner".

In 1945, he was elected to the House of Commons for the constituency of Calgary East and held various ministerial positions under the government of John Diefenbaker. He was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on June 21, 1957 as Minister of Agriculture. In 1960, he was appointed Minister of National Defence. Harkness precipitated a political crisis when he resigned from cabinet in February 1963 in order to protest Diefenbaker's opposition to stationing American nuclear warheads in Canada. The resignation precipitated a split in the cabinet and contributed to the defeat of the government in the 1963 federal election. However, Harkness continued to sit as a Member of Parliament until 1972.