A Legacy of Public Service: Peter Harder (BA 1975)
Before entering a life of public service and ultimately becoming Canada’s first independent Senator in 2016, Peter Harder (BA 1975) moved from the small town of Vineland, Ontario to the slightly larger city of Waterloo to live at Conrad Grebel College and study Political Science at the University of Waterloo. At Grebel, he practiced leadership skills, and learned to think globally and act ethically. Throughout his career in numerous governmental roles – in Canada and internationally – Peter fostered a deep sense of social responsibility, wrote and enacted policies for a welcoming country, and worked to shape a new vision for the Senate. “I gained insight into the highest table in the sense of global symmetry,” Peter summarized.
“A Mennonite college on a university campus was viewed as a safe and appropriate environment for a small-town boy from the Niagara Peninsula,” explained Peter, regarding his decision to study at Waterloo and live at Grebel. “I had a very rich experience on the campus, for which I am grateful.” Peter easily settled into life at Grebel, where he joined the choir led by Helen Martens, helped to establish the Associate program to maintain connections with off-campus students, and participated in regular residence antics. When he was elected Student Council President, one of Peter’s tasks was to end hallway water fights: “that usually concluded with Danny Epp pouring the last full garbage pail of water on my head,” Peter described. This “early initiation into conflict escalation,” was solved with “disarmament” by exchanging all the residence plastic garbage cans with wire baskets.
Peter was also part of the committee who hired President Frank Epp. “Frank was by far the most dominant personality in my undergraduate program at Grebel,” said Peter. “I never took a course from him, but he got me involved in the intellectual work around the Social Gospel. I still remember sitting in the old library, reading those books that stimulated my thinking, whether it was Arthur Gish and the Radical Reformation or Reinhold Niebuhr, who has become an anchor in my thinking on so many issues,” he added. “That’s part of the intellectual experience of universities.” Peter credits Frank for inspiring experiences like participating in the World Federalists movement as well as the Peace Research Institute. “The advantage of Grebel is not just the residence, it is a very helpful and enriching place where you can become acquainted with the broader world of academia and thought,” he added.
A pivotal decision in Peter’s career trajectory came when his Political Science professors suggested that he participate in a parliamentary internship program in Ottawa. Peter was a Parliamentary Intern from 1975 to 1976, after which, he completed graduate studies at Queen’s University and then joined the foreign service in 1977.
“I was brought up in a place where the whole idea of contributing back to your community that reflected your faith community was part of growing up. It was not unusual for me then to pursue a career in public service as opposed to strictly a business career,” Peter explained. In his 35-year career, Peter served as Deputy Minister under five different Prime Ministers and twelve Ministers in diverse government departments. He worked closely with Flora MacDonald, Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, John Manley, Erik Nielsen, and Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney and Justin Trudeau. He was especially skilled at transition planning and non-partisan policy.
Serving as the founding Executive Director of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Peter found much meaning in this position. His parents had come to Canada as young refugees from the Soviet Union, and he was now in a position that influenced refugee policy making in Canada. “There had been some controversy around immigration issues at that time. In that role, I was involved in articulating what needed to be done,” he said. One of the first refugee projects that Peter worked on involved settling 60,000 Vietnam refugees in Canada. Later, Peter led the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada as Deputy Minister in creating new refugee settlement processes.
After retiring from his numerous positions in the public sector, Peter returned to work in 2016 and was appointed as Canada’s first independent Senator in the newly created role of Government Representative. According to the Senate Government Representative Office, the goal for this role (which he held until 2020), was to act “as the first point of contact between the Government and the Senate – helping to guide discussion on Government bills among fellow Senators, and acting as a key promoter of a suite of modernization policies to create a more independent, accountable and transparent, and less partisan chamber.” Peter is still an independent Senator today, as a member of the Progressive Senate Group.
During his initial retirement, Peter was looking for a change. “I left the government and very deliberately didn’t do one thing. I wanted to spend a third of my time doing corporate work, another third consulting and the last third doing volunteer work,” he said. “My wife said my vision was right, but realistically the split would have to be 50/50/50.” Peter’s involvements included serving on the National Arts Centre Board, the United Church Foundation, and Commonwealth Games Foundation.
When asked to reflect on Grebel and what role such an institution can play in today’s political and religious and geopolitical environment, Peter noted the unique positioning of the small church-based college on the campus of a large world-class university. “The interplay of technology and economics and social policy is one that would come naturally to anybody at the University of Waterloo,” he suggested. “I benefited from a set of professors who brought the world to me while I could be at Grebel. Students today are less singularly Mennonite in their political culture or in their upbringing, and that makes us more cosmopolitan, more aware of the world. But I think it gives us a pretty good tradition from which to insert ourselves in the world of today.”
With such a rich diversity of experiences and a distinguished career in the public service, Peter has a wealth of advice for current students. “Think global,” he advised. “While it is great to go to the University of Waterloo, think of some global or international experience, either in your academics or otherwise. Your career and life on this planet will be defined by the world, not the town, or even the country. Global literacy is something you need to experience, not just study.” Peter also recommended finding a balance between career and personal life. “I found that public service has been enriching and fulfilling. But I've also found that you need to make time for volunteer work. Singing in a choir, being associated with civil society is important – and don’t just live on those experiences but reflect on them.”
By Jennifer Konkle
Peter Harder (BA '75) is a former Canadian senior civil servant who was also named to the Senate of Canada. A longtime senior bureaucrat in the Canadian civil service, he was deputy minister to the Minister of Foreign Affairs when he retired from the civil service in 2007. In 2005 he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Waterloo.
___________
This article is based on interviews by Marcus Shantz (BA 1995) and Larry Cornies (BA 1975).
Peter's story is part of Grebel's 60 Stories for 60 Years project. Check out our 60 Stories page for more articles in this series. If you would like to nominate a Grebel alumnus to share about their experiences at Grebel, please submit a nomination form.