Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute today to Harry Rankin, long-time Vancouver civic politician, lawyer and social activist who died yesterday at the age of 81.
Harry Rankin served the people of Vancouver and British Columbia well. He was a member of city council in Vancouver, first elected in 1966 and retiring after almost 30 years in 1993.
In his career he always spoke out on behalf of what he called the little guy. He was also a respected lawyer who had a reputation of going to bat in court for the underprivileged, for the labour movement and for civil liberties issues. He was a bencher of the law society as well.
My colleague from Vancouver East is a former colleague of his from Vancouver city council. Another former colleague from city council, fellow councillor Pat Wilson, said Harry Rankin “dominated Vancouver city politics for almost 30 years and at the peak of his influence there was no more articulate, passionate or effective champion of ordinary people at any level of politics”.
Harry Rankin was a great Canadian and certainly all of us will mourn his passing. We extend our condolences to his wife Connie Fogal and to his family.