Milt Harradence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asa Milton "Milt" Harradence (1922 – February 28, 2008)^[1] was a Canadian criminal lawyer, politician and judge of the Alberta Court of Appeal.

He was born in Blaine Lake, Sasktachewan and earned his law degree at the University of Saskatchewan.^[1]

From 1941 to 1943, during World War II, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.^[1] After the war he moved to Alberta to practice law.

Harradance was elected to Calgary city council in 1957 serving as an alderman for a term. He was leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party from 1962 to 1964. A flamboyant Calgary defence lawyer and war veteran, he defeated Ernest Watkins, the party's sole member of the legislature, at the 1962 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. He received media attention during 1963 Alberta general election by flying his own plane across the province while campaigning but he did not win votes. Harradance was defeated in Calgary West by Donald S. Fleming of the Social Credit Party of Alberta and the party was shut out of the legislature with the loss of Watkins' seat.^[2]

He retired from politics and returned to his legal practice. The target of a number of death threats due to his legal work, he was one of the few people in the country granted a permit to carry a concealed weapon.^[1]

In the 1970s, he was asked by the province to investigate allegations of brutality by prison guards at the Calgary Correctional Institute. While he cleared the guards his report criticized the prison system.^[1]

and was appointed to the Alberta Court of Appeal^[2] in 1979 where he sat sat as a judge until his retirement in 1997.^[1] He died from cancer on February 28, 2008.^[1]

[edit] References