Larry R. Heather
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Larry R. Heather (born in Vulcan, Alberta) is a politician and activist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is a perennial candidate for the Christian Heritage Party of Canada, and has also campaigned in provincial and municipal elections.
He holds a Bachelor of Religious Education degree from Briercrest Bible College in Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion from Rocky Mountain College in Calgary, as well as a Graduate Certificate of Christian Studies from Regent College in Vancouver. A shipper/receiver by profession, he is a member of the Canadian Badlands Passion Play Society and the Creation Science Association of Alberta. Heather also hosts the program "Gospel Road" on AM1140 in High River, and is webmaster of the William Aberhart Historical Foundation. He has lived in the area of the Calgary Southwest riding since 1963.
Heather is best known as an anti-abortion activist. He was briefly detained in 1985 for throwing ketchup on abortion activist Henry Morgentaler, upon the latter's arrival in Calgary on a fundraising tour (Globe and Mail, 16 January 1985). He later protested against funding for the Calgary Birth Control Association in 1988, on the grounds that the organization provided abortion counselling (Calgary Herald, 21 December 1988). A few months after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the nation's abortion law, he was quoted as saying, "a woman's womb is the most dangerous place to live in Canada" (Calgary Herald, 29 January 1989). During a debate over a Calgary abortion clinic in 1991, he described Morgentaler as "a mass murderer who has murdered thousands of unborn babies" (Calgary Herald, 10 October 1991).
He has also been active in other socially conservative causes. During the 1989 municipal campaign, he described a local gay bar as a "major public health threat" (Calgary Herald, 14 December 1989) and claimed that condoms in washroom coin machines would result in a "flood of promiscuity" (Calgary Herald, 6 October 1989). In 2005, he criticized Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper for supporting civil union rights for homosexual couples (Calgary Herald, 28 January 2005).
Heather has been a member of Cedars of Lebanon, a group which believes that the growth of cedars in Lebanon and Israel will signal the return of the Christian Messiah.[1] He spoke in defense of fellow CoL member Bruce Balfour in 2003, upon the latter's arrest by Lebanese authorities on charges of spying for Israel (Canada AM, 2 September 2003). The charges were not proven, and Balfour was released.
As of 2006, he is the vice-president of communication of the Alberta Social Credit Party. Heather is a member of the Woodgreen Presbyterian Church, and for many years was president of Christians Concerned For Life in Calgary.[2][3] He has also written and performed religious songs.[4]
One of his campaign documents in 2006 featured the headline, "Purge Supreme Court Activist Rulings!", accompanied by the image of a judge smashing his gavel on a husband-and-wife centrepiece. This was a reference to the recent legalization of Same-sex marriage in Canada. His campaign website also featured images of aborted fetuses, which are juxtaposed with and likened to images of massacred children in Rwanda (Warning: graphic content [5]).
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 federal | Calgary South | Ind. | 800 | 5/6 | Bobbie Sparrow, Progressive Conservative | |
| 1986 provincial | Calgary Glenmore | Ind. | 384 | 4/4 | Dianne Mirosh, Progressive Conservative | |
| 1988 federal | Calgary Southwest | Ind. | 669 | 5/7 | Bobbie Sparrow, Progressive Conservative | |
| 1989 provincial | Calgary Elbow | Ind. | 174 | 4/4 | Ralph Klein, Progressive Conservative | |
| 1989 municipal (Public School Board) |
Wards 12/14 | n/a | 2,725 | 10.79 | 4/6 | Ann Craig |
| 1992 municipal (Public School Board) |
Wards 11/13 | n/a | - | - | 4/4 | Peggy Valentine |
| 1993 federal | Calgary West | CHP | 116 | 0.20 | 8/8 | Stephen Harper, Reform |
| 1997 federal | Calgary Southwest | CHP | 89 | 7/7 | Preston Manning, Reform | |
| 2004 federal | Calgary Southwest | CHP | 229 | 0.44 | 6/6 | Stephen Harper, Conservative |
| 2004 provincial | Calgary Glenmore | SC | 127 | 6/6 | Ron Stevens, Progressive Conservative | |
| 2006 federal | Calgary Southwest | CHP | 279 | 0.49 | 5/5 | Stephen Harper, Conservative |
The 1989 municipal results are taken from the Calgary Herald of 17 October 1989, with 38 of 44 polls reporting. The final results were not significantly different. Heather's vote total in the 1992 election does not appear to have been reported in the Herald, although the edition of 20 October 1992 indicates that he finished in last place.
