Harvey Lainson
Encyclopedia
Harvey George Lainson was a Christian evangelical minister based in the Cambridge, Ontario
region and was leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada
from 1986 to 1990 during which time he led a successful effort to expel an anti-Semitic faction from the party led by Jim Keegstra.
Lainson was a longtime party member and stood as a Social Credit candidate during the 1962 federal election
in the riding of St. John—Albert, New Brunswick
. He won the party's June 1986 leadership convention
defeating Keegstra by a margin of 67 vote to 38. Lainson hoped to rename the party Christian Freedom since he thought people mistook the name "social credit" for socialist and rebuild the party with the support of Christian fundamentalists He faced resistance from the onset of his leadership with Keegstra's supporters insisting that Lainson was part of a conspiracy and pledging to obstruct him. "We're going to stonewall this guy. There's no way we're going to do business with him. As far as we're concerned, this bunch is part of the conspiracy," said one Keegstra supporter. and was temporarily deposed as party leader in 1987 in favour of Keegstra. Refusing to resign, Lainson's leadership was reconfirmed at a party convention later in 1987 and he succeeded in expelling Keegstra from the party.
Lainson led the party through the 1988 federal election
in which the depleted party ran only nine candidates and received only 3,407 votes, in what would be its final and worst ever performance in a general election
. Lainson did not contest a parliamentary seat. He resigned as party leader in 1990 for unspecified "personal reasons" and was succeeded by another evangelical minister, Ken Campbell
.
In his business life, Lainson operated a computer services company for Christian charities in Ottawa.
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
region and was leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...
from 1986 to 1990 during which time he led a successful effort to expel an anti-Semitic faction from the party led by Jim Keegstra.
Lainson was a longtime party member and stood as a Social Credit candidate during the 1962 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1962
The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 25th Parliament of Canada...
in the riding of St. John—Albert, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. He won the party's June 1986 leadership convention
Social Credit Party of Canada leadership conventions
The Canadian social credit movement first contested the 1935 federal election in order to capitalize from the Alberta Social Credit League's surprise victory in Alberta's August 1935 provincial election...
defeating Keegstra by a margin of 67 vote to 38. Lainson hoped to rename the party Christian Freedom since he thought people mistook the name "social credit" for socialist and rebuild the party with the support of Christian fundamentalists He faced resistance from the onset of his leadership with Keegstra's supporters insisting that Lainson was part of a conspiracy and pledging to obstruct him. "We're going to stonewall this guy. There's no way we're going to do business with him. As far as we're concerned, this bunch is part of the conspiracy," said one Keegstra supporter. and was temporarily deposed as party leader in 1987 in favour of Keegstra. Refusing to resign, Lainson's leadership was reconfirmed at a party convention later in 1987 and he succeeded in expelling Keegstra from the party.
Lainson led the party through the 1988 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
in which the depleted party ran only nine candidates and received only 3,407 votes, in what would be its final and worst ever performance in a general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
. Lainson did not contest a parliamentary seat. He resigned as party leader in 1990 for unspecified "personal reasons" and was succeeded by another evangelical minister, Ken Campbell
Ken Campbell (evangelist)
Kenneth Livingstone Campbell was a Canadian fundamentalist Baptist evangelist and political figure. He was the final leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1990 to 1993....
.
In his business life, Lainson operated a computer services company for Christian charities in Ottawa.