Editing Mac Harb (section)

== Life and career ==
Harb,  was born in Chaat, [[Lebanon]], and emigrated to [[Canada]] to study at the [[University of Ottawa]] in 1973. He subsequently worked as an engineer at [[Northern Telecom]] and a professor at [[Algonquin College]] in [[Ottawa]]. Harb was elected to [[Ottawa City Council]] in 1985 and served as deputy mayor in 1987 and 1988.<ref name="J. Patrick Boyer"/>

He was first elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in the [[1988 Canadian federal election|1988 federal election]] as the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Ottawa Centre (federal electoral district)|Ottawa Centre]]. He supported [[Jean Chrétien]]'s bid to succeed [[John Turner]] as leader of the Liberal Party in 1990 and remained a Chrétien loyalist throughout his career as an MP.<ref name="J. Patrick Boyer"/>

In September 2003, Harb was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada]] on Chrétien's recommendation.<ref name="J. Patrick Boyer"/>

In March 2009, Harb attempted to introduce a bill that would have limited the East Coast [[seal hunt]] to only those with aboriginal treaty rights. No senator seconded his motion to introduce the bill, something that other senators could not recall happening in over two decades.<ref>{{cite web |title=Seal hunt ban gets icy reception in Senate |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/seal-hunt-ban-gets-icy-reception-in-senate-1.810771 |publisher=CBCNews |access-date=May 7, 2013}}</ref> He also attempted to introduce a bill in June 2011 that would outlaw commercial seal hunting, and had introduced a third bill against the seal hunt in May 2012. [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals|PETA]] subsequently honoured him as their "Canadian Person of the Year".<ref name="J. Patrick Boyer"/><ref>{{cite web |author=Robin Levinson |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/Harb+accepts+PETA+award+efforts+stop+inhumanity+seal+hunt/7749716/story.html |title=Harb accepts PETA award for his efforts to stop 'inhumanity' of the seal hunt |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=December 27, 2012}}</ref>