User:Cholt.ubc/sandbox

This is my sandbox and I'm part of the group tasked with examining J.B Harkin. I'll be mostly dealing with Early Life and Political Career. /sandbox

Beginning of the Lead

James B. Harkin (30 January 1875 - 27 January 1955) also know as the Father of National Parks, was a Canadian born journalist turned bureaucrat with a passion for conservation but also widely renowned for his commoditizing of the Canadian landscape. Harkin began his career as a journalist under the umbrella of the Ottawa Daily and Montreal Herald, two conservative newspapers at the time, but soon through his persistence and prowess gained entry into civil service at a early age. Under the tutelage of some influential figures working for the Liberal Party, most notably Clifford Sifton and Frank Oliver, James B. Harkin was able to acquire an appointment to be the first commissioner of the Dominion Parks Branch in 1911.

Proposed Outline of Article

We are students from the University of British Columbia. As part of our Environmental History course, we will be editing this page until April 10th, 2012. The following is our proposed outline for the article:

Lead
1. Early life
- 2. Political career
- 3. Influences

3.1 The American example and experience

4. Philosophy

4.1 Commercial value of parks

4.2 Commitment to endangered species

4.3 Parks as instilling patriotism

4.3.1 The 'play spirit' and 'play instinct'

5. Achievements

5.1 Evolution of the Dominion Parks Branch

5.2 Commercial achievements (autotourism and tourism)

5.3 Wildlife conservation

5.3.1 Migratory Bird Legislation

5.3.2 Wood Buffalo Reserve

5.3.3 Pronghorn Project

5.4 Miscellaneous

6. Controversies or Disputes

6.1 Forestry Branch on wildlife administration

6.2 Native hunters and conservationists

7. End of Harkin's career
8. Legacy
9. Footnotes
10. References
11. External Links

Early life

James Bernard Harkin was born January 30th, 1875 in the town of Vankleek Hill in eastern Ontario. His parents were Dr. William Harkin and Elizabeth (McDonnell). He was the fourth of five children born into a devout Catholic family but along with his brother William, Harkin was unconcerned with religious motivations. Their father, Dr. William Harkin was a devout Catholic who was born to Irish Protestant immigrants in 1831 in Vanleek Hill where he became a schoolteacher and soon after went to study Medicine at McGill University. Harkin's life with his father was cut short due to his father's tragic death while speaking at the Legislative Assembly in 1881, where he suffered a heart attack. His father was a staunch advocate for the Conservatives in which he held a seat in the Legislative Assembly for the district of Prescott. After the death of his father, Harkin remained with his mother and sister until his high school years where he left to live with his brother who had become a doctor in Marquette, Michigan. Harkin was born into general affluence and a politically powerful family. Despite the passing of his father, Harkin's upbringing influenced his ability to forge the beginning of his career as a cub reporter with the Montreal Herald at age seventeen.

Political career

Harkin's route into a political career was generated mostly by his family, in which his father was a Conservative with a seat in the Legislative Assembly and his brother was a highly touted journalist for the Ottawa Journal. These early family influences would play a large role in the development of Harkin's political career and would shape his early affiliations. It was through the mentorship of his brother, William Harkin, that he gained employment with the Montreal Herald, but shortly afterwards with the Ottawa Journal under the guidance of P.D Ross. P.D Ross was the proprietor of the Ottawa Journal. He became an influential person in Harkin’s career as he saw him develop his knack for clear, concise journalism. Ross recommended Harkin to the Liberal Party's Minister of Interior and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Clifford Sifton. This recommendation allowed Harkin to enter the government service in 1896 at the age of twenty six.

Harkin’s acceptance of this appointment by Clifford Sifton surprised many Conservatives that saw their leader, Sir Charles Tupper, defeated by Wilfrid Laurier in the same year as Harkin's appointment. The rise of the Liberal Party and Harkin’s employment under them dictated much of his later appointments in which he worked tirelessly for Sifton until 1905, at which point Sifton he fell out of favour with Wilfrid Laurier over educational rights. Frank Oliver was appointed as the new Minister of the Interior, and sought to be a supporter of parks and wildlife. Despite Oliver's distaste for Sifton, Harkin retained his position with Oliver and worked a further 6 years as Oliver's secretary until receiving an appointment to be the the first commissioner of the Dominion Parks Branch in 1911.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society established the Harkin Conservation Award in 1972 to honour his memory.

Team Edits

Allison's edits: Hi Chris, thanks for taking on this section of the article! Sorry for the much delayed feedback. I realize your part of the article has already gone live, but I made some minor grammar/punctuation edits as well as rephrased some sentences so they were a bit more clear. I'll reflect my changes in the Harkin article. Please let me know if there's any issues with my changes! Thanks --Allisontheresa (talk) 23:12, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

hey chris! i added to your lead, alter it where you see fit! Cm1014 (talk) 06:16, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Hey Chris! Just realized that we still didn't add the page numbers to your references. Could you please do this before the deadline? Alternatively, since you are the only one who used the Hart book, we could just reference it to that without page numbers. Ideally though, if you have those on hand - might as well add to them :) Thanks! --Allisontheresa (talk) 21:56, 9 April 2012 (UTC)