# Mac Harb > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mac_Harb > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mac_Harb.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Harb > Source revision: 1350599260 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [The Honourable](/source/The_Honourable) | name = Mac Harb | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | office = [Canadian Senator](/source/Senate_of_Canada)
from [Ontario](/source/Ontario) | appointer = [Jean Chrétien](/source/Jean_Chr%C3%A9tien) | predecessor = | successor = | term_start = September 9, 2003 | term_end = August 26, 2013 | office2 = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(Canada))
for [Ottawa Centre](/source/Ottawa_Centre_(federal_electoral_district)) | term_start2 = November 21, 1988 | term_end2 = September 8, 2003 | predecessor2 = [Michael Cassidy](/source/Michael_Cassidy_(Canadian_politician)) | successor2 = [Ed Broadbent](/source/Ed_Broadbent) | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|11|10}} | birth_place = Chaat, [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon) | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | party = Independent (May 10, 2013-August 26, 2013)
Liberal Party of Canada (September 9, 2003-May 9, 2013) | other_party = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Politician, engineer, college teacher | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Mac Harb''' ({{langx|ar|ماك هارب}}; born November 10, 1953) is a former Canadian politician, who served successively in local [Ottawa](/source/Ottawa) positions, as a [Member of the House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_Canada), and as a [Senator](/source/Senate_of_Canada) for [Ontario](/source/Ontario).{{Cite web|url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/SiteInformation/parlinfoMoved|title=ParlInfo Has Moved|website=lop.parl.ca}}J. Patrick Boyer. ''Our Scandalous Senate'' Volume 1 of Point of View. Dundurn, 2014. chapter 3; pp. 58 to 60. {{ISBN|9781459723672}}. He resigned his seat as [Senator](/source/Senate_of_Canada) in 2013 amidst the [Canadian Senate expenses scandal](/source/Canadian_Senate_expenses_scandal). == Life and career == Harb, was born in Chaat, [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon), and emigrated to [Canada](/source/Canada) to study at the [University of Ottawa](/source/University_of_Ottawa) in 1973. He subsequently worked as an engineer at [Northern Telecom](/source/Northern_Telecom) and taught at [Algonquin College](/source/Algonquin_College) in [Ottawa](/source/Ottawa). Harb was elected to [Ottawa City Council](/source/Ottawa_City_Council) in 1985 and served as deputy mayor in 1987 and 1988. He was first elected to the [House of Commons of Canada](/source/House_of_Commons_of_Canada) in the [1988 federal election](/source/1988_Canadian_federal_election) as the [Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Canada) [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(Canada)) (MP) for [Ottawa Centre](/source/Ottawa_Centre_(federal_electoral_district)). He supported [Jean Chrétien](/source/Jean_Chr%C3%A9tien)'s bid to succeed [John Turner](/source/John_Turner) as leader of the Liberal Party in 1990 and remained a Chrétien loyalist throughout his career as an MP. In September 2003, Harb was appointed to the [Senate of Canada](/source/Senate_of_Canada) on Chrétien's recommendation. In March 2009, Harb attempted to introduce a bill that would have limited the East Coast [seal hunt](/source/seal_hunt) to only those with aboriginal treaty rights. No senator seconded his motion to introduce the bill, something that other senators could not recall happening in over two decades.{{cite web |title=Seal hunt ban gets icy reception in Senate |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/seal-hunt-ban-gets-icy-reception-in-senate-1.810771 |publisher=CBCNews |access-date=May 7, 2013}} He also attempted to introduce a bill in June 2011 that would outlaw commercial seal hunting, and had introduced a third bill against the seal hunt in May 2012. [PETA](/source/People_for_the_Ethical_Treatment_of_Animals) subsequently honoured him as their "Canadian Person of the Year".{{cite web |author=Robin Levinson |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/Harb+accepts+PETA+award+efforts+stop+inhumanity+seal+hunt/7749716/story.html |title=Harb accepts PETA award for his efforts to stop 'inhumanity' of the seal hunt |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=December 27, 2012}} == Local Ottawa politics == After the [1991 Ottawa municipal election](/source/1991_Ottawa_municipal_election), Harb, who was a Liberal MP and had supported fiscally conservative, pro-business candidate [Jacquelin Holzman](/source/Jacquelin_Holzman), admitted to "quietly encourag[ing]" [Marc Laviolette](/source/Marc_Laviolette) to enter the race to split the vote, because he "couldn't stomach Smith's left-wing social agenda" and the thought of [Nancy Smith](/source/Nancy_Smith_(politician)) winning.{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen/127038045/ | title=Article clipped from the Ottawa Citizen | newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen | date=30 November 1991 | page=1 }} == Senate expense scandal == {{Main|Canadian Senate expenses scandal}} On December 6, 2012, Harb was named in relation to the [Canadian Senate expenses scandal](/source/Canadian_Senate_expenses_scandal) due to expenses for a property in [Pembroke, Ontario](/source/Pembroke%2C_Ontario).{{Cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/568714/a-look-at-key-dates-in-the-evolution-of-the-senate-expense-claim-controversy/|title=Timeline: Key dates in the evolution of the Senate expense-claim controversy | Globalnews.ca|website=Global News}} In May 2013, the Senate Internal Economy Committee found that Harb had incorrectly claimed $51,482.92 of living and travel expenses and ordered him to repay it, which was done by July 5, 2013.{{cite web | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senator-mac-harb-repays-51k-in-expenses-1.1407975?cmp=rss | title=Senator Mac Harb repays $51K in expenses | publisher=CBC | date=4 July 2013 | access-date=15 July 2013}} The committee had earlier advised Harb to repay $231,000 of claimed expenses dating back to 2005 to avoid an extensive audit into his finances. Harb stated that his repayment was done "under protest" since he intended to challenge the validity of the committee's findings in the Ontario Divisional Court. On August 26, 2013, he repaid a further $180,166.17, for a total reimbursement of $231,649.07, after which he resigned his Senate seat.{{cite web | url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/08/26/senate_scandal_mac_harb_resigns.html | title=Senate scandal: Mac Harb resigns | publisher=Toronto Star | date=26 August 2013 | access-date=29 March 2017}} In February 2014, Harb was charged with fraud and breach of trust in connection with these expense claims.{{cite news | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mac-harb-patrick-brazeau-face-fraud-related-charges-in-senate-scandal/article16680901/ | title=Mac Harb, Patrick Brazeau charged with fraud in Senate scandal | work=[CBC News](/source/CBC_News) | date=4 February 2016 | access-date=29 March 2017}} Those charges were later withdrawn by the Crown in May 2016, after the acquittal of Senator [Mike Duffy](/source/Mike_Duffy) on his own expense-related criminal charges.{{cite news | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/criminal-charges-dropped-against-former-senator-mac-harb/article30104970/ | title=Criminal charges dropped against former senator Mac Harb | publisher=CBC | date=20 May 2016 | access-date=29 March 2017}} == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=14717}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090310090706/http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca/Senator/harbm Liberal Senate Forum] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Harb, Mac}} Category:1953 births Category:Canadian engineers Category:Canadian senators from Ontario Category:Lebanese emigrants to Canada Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs Category:Liberal Party of Canada senators Category:Living people Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Category:Ottawa city councillors Category:University of Ottawa alumni Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Category:21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Category:Ottawa–Carleton regional councillors Category:21st-century members of the Senate of Canada Category:People from Baalbek District --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mac Harb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Harb) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Harb?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.