Wayne Roger Harding

Wayne Roger Harding was born in New Westminster, British Columbia in 1938, the son of Ellen Aili Lahti who raised him as a single parent in Vancouver in the years of the Second World War and after. In 1948 she married Cyril Harding who became his adoptive father, and the family moved to Woodfibre, a small mill town on the coast north of Vancouver where he went to school, graduating from high school in 1956. He studied at the University of British Columbia and later at Putney College in London, England.

Returning to British Columbia in 1963 he worked as a reporter for The Canadian Press and the New Westminster Columbian, as editor of the Williams Lake Tribune and as a desk editor with the Victoria Times.

In 1973 he was appointed Assistant to Graham Lea, Minister of Highways in the Government of British Columbia and in 1976 as Press Secretary to the Honourable Dave Barrett, former Premier and Leader of the Opposition in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly.

In 1979 he moved to Ottawa as an Assistant to Ray Skelly, Member of Parliament for Comox-Powell River, and later as Media Coordinator for the New Democratic Party Caucus in the House of Commons. In 1985 he was appointed Special Assistant to the Honourable Ed Broadbent, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada.

Between 1990 and 1995 he worked in Toronto as Acting Director of Communications of the New Democratic Party Caucus in the Legislative Assembly and as Supervising Editor in the Office of the Premier. In 1995 he returned to Ottawa where he was appointed Director of Communications of the New Democratic Party of Canada, a position he held until 2003 when he retired in Ottawa.

He is survived by Jean-Marie Trouyet, his companion of many years.

In memory of Wayne, donations may be left to; Amnesty International Canada (312 Laurier Ave. East. Ottawa, ON K1N 1H9), British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (900 Helmcken St. 2Nd Floor, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1B3) or Canadian Civil Liberties Association (90 Eglington Ave. East, Suite 900, Toronto, ON M4P 2Y3).