Harris hoping for cabinet post
Mike Harris Jr. is one of four new faces representing Waterloo Region after Thursday’s provincial election. More profiles of The Newcomers on B1
KITCHENER — After surviving a controversial campaign and winning in his first attempt at public office, Mike Harris Jr. is hoping he can make an even bigger political contribution — through a position in cabinet.
The incoming Kitchener-Conestoga MPP, son of former premier Mike Harris, is eyeing a promotion in the new Doug Ford government that won a majority Thursday night.
“Obviously, I’d like to see myself in a cabinet position, but that’s not up to me, of course,” he said. “But that’s where I’d love to see myself in the next four years.”
Harris, new to public office but well acquainted with politics thanks to his father, thinks his background might make him a good fit as Minister of Innovation and Technology.
He’s leaving behind a job at Route1, a Toronto-based security and analytics technology company, and says he’s well-placed to represent Waterloo Region’s growing tech sector.
Harris started at Route1 in sales, but proved himself by taking on more responsibilities, according to Route1’s CEO, Tony Busseri. His father is chair of the company’s board of directors.
“He’s not a resource we’re looking to get rid of,” Busseri said. “But it doesn’t surprise me he has bigger ambitions ... There’s clearly an itch there he’s scratching through this.”
Harris says as constituents get to know him better, he hopes concerns
around his controversial appointment will ease. The new MPP was hand-picked by the incoming premier after former MPP Michael Harris was booted out in April over a flirty text exchange with a former party intern in 2012.
He plans to be accessible to the public and out in the community often, a lesson his father taught him.
“I think people are going to see that I am actually a very responsible man and I will be listening to constituents,” he said.
“As they get to know me better, I’m going to be out in the riding as often as possible. I’m certainly not going to be hiding or ducking away from anything ... I’ve taken everything that’s been thrown at me head-on, and I’m here for people in Kitchener-Conestoga.”
At 33, he’s three years younger than his father was when he entered provincial politics, although the senior Harris had been a school board trustee for seven years before he was elected as an MPP.
His father, who was in St. Jacobs watching the results come in Thursday night, dismissed the concerns about Harris’s appointment. That includes revelations the father of five with a common-law wife had a profile on a dating website last fall, which he said was part of a drinking game.
“He had a late start, some controversy, overcame a lot of those negatives which, quite frankly, were utter nonsense, but nonetheless he persevered,” Harris Sr. said shortly after his son’s victory.
Harris admitted it was stressful when polls closed and NDP candidate Kelly Dick took an early lead in the riding. He ultimately won by 686 votes.
“It was a little nerve-racking at first, but as the polls started to move up and our lead started to grow, I was a lot more comfortable, ” he said.
Harris waited until every poll was counted before he joined his victory celebration with his family front and centre. He promised a PC government will bring change.
“As I knocked on doors … I hear the same thing. Life has become unaffordable and government is the reason. In fact, government has become a problem, not the solution, and that ends tonight,” Harris told supporters.
“Under Premier Doug Ford and a majority PC government, we will bring jobs, prosperity and integrity back to Ontario, starting right here in Waterloo Region,” he said.
With the campaign behind him, the MPP-elect is planning for a crash course orientation in working in the legislature and being a part of a governing party. He says he’s eager to get started.
“It was a tough campaign, but persevered and we pushed through. We ran a very clean campaign, we weren’t out mudslinging, and I think it showed,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting to work.”