Hal Herbert

For the Australian artist and critic, see Harold Herbert (artist).

Harold Thomas Herbert (June 17, 1922 – July 25, 2003) was a British-born Canadian politician. He introduced the Private Member's Bill in 1982 which amended the Holidays Act to change the name of Canada's national holiday from "Dominion Day" to "Canada Day".

Harold Thomas Herbert
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Vaudreuil
In office 1972–1984
Preceded by	René Émard
Succeeded by	Pierre Cadieux
Personal details
Born	(1922-06-17)June 17, 1922 London, England, UK
Died	July 25, 2003(2003-07-25) (aged 81) Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Madeleine Lemieux Herbert
Children	Louise Herbert and Thomas Herbert
Residence	Hudson
Committees	Chairman, Standing Committee on Finance, Trade and Economic Affairs (1973-1974)
Portfolio	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works (1978-1979) Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs (1978-1979) Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole (1984)

Born in London, England, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and took flight training in Canada in 1941. During the World War II, he flew Spitfires on high-altitude photo-reconnaissance trips and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he studied engineering in Scotland and moved to Canada in 1948. He eventually became a partner with a Montreal construction firm.

He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1972 federal election representing the riding of Vaudreuil. A Liberal, he was re-elected in 1974, 1979, and 1980. He was defeated in 1984. In 1978, he was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works. In 1984, he was the Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole.

Electoral record

1972 Canadian federal election: Vaudreuil
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Hal Herbert	27,372
	Progressive Conservative	Jeannette-T. Burley	11,477
	Social Credit	Joseph-Endré De Csavossy	4,526
	New Democratic	Michel Beauséjour	3,573
	Independent	André Théoret	3,066
	Independent	Walter J. Williams	330

1974 Canadian federal election: Vaudreuil
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Hal Herbert	29,685
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Brown	12,422
	New Democratic	Tom Rees	4,397
	Social Credit	Sarah Audet	2,752
	Independent	Gaëtan Boyer	805

1979 Canadian federal election: Vaudreuil
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Hal Herbert	41,508
	Progressive Conservative	Diana Togneri	7,787
	New Democratic	Lorne Brown	4,512
	Social Credit	Mario G. Turbide	3,625
	Rhinoceros	Claude Simard	1,177
	Libertarian	Claude Lévesque	437
	Union populaire	Jérome Chaput	237

1980 Canadian federal election: Vaudreuil
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Hal Herbert	39,159
	New Democratic	Lorne Brown	7,309
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas Thé	6,277
	Union populaire	Guy Cousineau	513
	Libertarian	Irena Bubniuk	479
	Marxist–Leninist	Michelle Duford	234

1984 Canadian federal election: Vaudreuil
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Pierre Cadieux	37,499
	Liberal	Hal Herbert	20,362
	New Democratic	Anne Erskine	7,993
	Rhinoceros	Nicole B.D. Pans	1,470
	Parti nationaliste	Benoît Duchesne	1,017
	Libertarian	Gordon Gouldson	345
	Commonwealth of Canada	Jacques Cartier	139

References

• James McCready (20 August 2003). "Hal Herbert: The man who gave us Canada Day". The Globe and Mail. p. R5.

External links

• Hal Herbert – Parliament of Canada biography