Article 2 / 9 , Vol 44 No. 3 (Fall)

Parliamentary Relatives: The Horner Political Dynasty

“Horner Family Political Dynasty to End; Former Finance Minister who comes from a Long Line of Elected Conservatives Announces that He Will Give up His Seat on Jan. 31,” declared a Globe and Mail headline on January 23, 2015. It is not known how or even if the Horner political clan reacted to the headline. What is clear is that the Toronto-based newspaper had under-estimated the longevity of one of Western Canada’s pre-eminent political families. On April 16, 2019, Nate Horner was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Drumheller-Stettler, and the long-standing political dynasty based in the Prairies continues.

As with many Prairie families, the Horners started out elsewhere, with the family first settling in Quebec in the 1800s, having emigrated from Ireland. Ralph Horner, one of the sons of the immigrant family, moved to Saskatchewan in the early 1900s, to establish a farm there. He soon entered political life, running, unsuccessfully, for the provincial Assembly on two occasions before being appointed to the Senate in 1933, where he served until 1964.

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Parliamentary Relatives: Across the Table from “Uncle Ernie”

In 1952, Aris and Arisje Hardeman, accompanied by 14 children and pregnant with a 15th, emigrated from Holland and settled in Southwestern Ontario. One of their sons went on to be elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) representing the very riding in which they arrived. One of their daughters went on to raise another eventual MPP.