Peter Harder (politician)

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}}

| name = Peter Harder

| birth_name =

| office = Representative of the Government in the Senate

| term_start = March 23, 2016

| term_end = December 31, 2019

| deputy =

| predecessor = Claude Carignan (as Leader of the Government in the Senate)

| successor = Marc Gold

| office1 = Canadian Senator
from Ontario

| term_start1 = March 23, 2016

| term_end1 =

| constituency1 = Ottawa

| predecessor1 =

| successor1 =

| nominator1 = Justin Trudeau

| appointed1 = David Johnston

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|08|25}}

| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse =

| party = Progressive Senate Group (since 2020)

| portfolio =

| footnotes =

|}}

V. Peter Harder {{post-nominals|country=CAN|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.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-set-to-appoint-seven-new-senators/article29285218/ "Trudeau to appoint seven new senators"]. The Globe and Mail, March 18, 2016. He served as Representative of the Government in the Senate from 2016 to 2019.[https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/18/justin-trudeau-names-seven-new-senators.html "Justin Trudeau names seven new senators"]. The Toronto Star, March 18, 2016.

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.[http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=071bd753-1ec8-4a13-b286-2e9e06e03ba6 "Senior deputy minister resigns"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329000203/http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=071bd753-1ec8-4a13-b286-2e9e06e03ba6 |date=2016-03-29 }}. canada.com, January 25, 2007. 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.{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021131441/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/peter-harders-job-on-trudeau-transition-team-lauded-by-former-bureacrats|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/peter-harders-job-on-trudeau-transition-team-lauded-by-former-bureacrats|url-status=dead|title=Peter Harder's job on Trudeau transition team praised by former bureacrats (sic)| newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|date= October 21, 2015|author=Kathryn May|archive-date=October 21, 2015 }} From 2009 to 2016, he served as the President of the Canada China Business Council, before his appointment as a senator.{{cite web |last1=Ballingall |first1=Alex |title=Federal government's Senate leader visits China as diplomatic feud continues |url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2019/07/03/federal-governments-senate-leader-visits-china-as-diplomatic-feud-continues.html |website=Toronto Star |access-date=8 June 2021 |language=en |date=2019-07-03}} On November 29, 2019, the Prime Minister's office announced{{cite news |title=The Prime Minister announces changes to the Senate leadership |url=https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2019/11/29/prime-minister-announces-changes-senate-leadership |access-date=29 November 2019 |agency=Government of Canada |publisher=Office of the Prime Minister of Canada |date=29 November 2019}} that Senator Harder would be stepping down from his position as Representative of the Government in the Senate effective December 31, 2019. Senator Grant Mitchell retired as Government Liaison in the Senate, when Harder's successor was named the following month.

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."{{cite news |last1=Tasker |first1=John Paul |title=Former government point man Peter Harder joins the Progressive Senate Group |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/peter-harder-progressives-1.5569325 |access-date=15 May 2020 |publisher=CBC News |date=14 May 2020}}