- Harold Steves
Harold Steves, born 1937, in
Richmond, British Columbia , is a Canadianpolitician . Steves is a current and long term city councillor, first elected in 1969 and re-elected in 1977, after serving one term as theNew Democratic Party of British Columbia MLA from 1973-1975.Biographical History
Early and current life
The Steves family is one of Richmond's first founding families, after which the community of [Steveston] is named. Manoah and Martha Steves were the first settlers in the area, arriving in 1877. They imported the first purebred holstein cattle into BC, established a dairy to provide milk for the fledgling City of Vancouver and were Western Canada's first seedsmen. Born of Maude and Harold Sr., Harold and wife Kathy still reside in the old Steves farmhouse, built in 1917, on what is now an 11 acre cattle farm surrounded by residential development. Harold is a graduate of the University of British Columbia with a BSc in Agriculture.
A former school teacher and active rancher by profession, Harold is very active in community life in the Steveston area, and is particularly interested in the preservation of farmland, heritage preservation, and environmental issues.
In the mid 1960's Harold drafted the initial resolutions to NDP conventions to establish an Agricultural Land Bank system in British Columbia. As an MLA he was active in the establishment of the "Agricultural Land Reserve" under the Dave Barrett NDP Government and for the following decades, one of its strongest defenders. He is presently active in the Farmland Defense League.
Current political life
Harold is the Chair of Agriculture for Metro Vancouver and is promoting
farmland preservation , urban agriculture and food security for the region. He represents Richmond as second Director on the Board of Directors of Metro Vancouver and is the alternate Council representative to the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee. He was the LMTAC rep at the treaty table for the Tsawwassen First Nation treaty negotiations. Harold is also a director of the BC Groundfish Development Authority.Harold is Chair of the Planning Committee of Richmond Council. He is also a member of the Finance; General Purposes; Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services and the Public Works & Transportation Committees of Council. Harold is a Council representative to the following advisory committees, organizations and community associations: the Agricultural Advisory Committee; the Corporate Sponsorship Program Committee; the Olympic Business Advisory Committee; the Richmond Farmers' Institute; the Sea Island Community Association; the Britannia Heritage Shipyard Advisory Board (alternate); the Museum Society Board; the Steveston Harbour Authority Board (alternate) and the Britannia Heritage Shipyard Society.He is also a director of the Richmond Athletic Commission established recently to regulate professional boxing in Richmond
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