Highlights of the life of publisher and political activist Mel Hurtig

EDMONTON — Some notable dates and events in the life of author, publisher and nationalist Mel Hurtig, who died Wednesday at the age of 84.”

1956: Hurtig opened Hurtig Books in Edmonton with $500, which grew into one of the largest retail book operations in Canada.

1972: Hurtig sold his stores and decided to concentrate on publishing books under the imprint Hurtig Publishers. In this same year, he ran as a Liberal in a federal Edmonton riding without success. He later became a founding member of the Committee for an Independent Canada and served as their national chairman.

1980: Hurtig became an officer of the Order of Canada.

1985: The first edition of “The Canadian Encyclopedia” was published. It sold 155,000 sets in the first three months of publication. The Council of Canadians was also founded that year by Hurtig, Maude Barlow and Pierre Berton among others.

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1988: He was awarded the Lester B. Pearson Man of the Year Peace Award. The second edition of “The Canadian Encyclopedia” was published.

1991: Hurtig published his first book, “The Betrayal of Canada,” critiquing the North American Free Trade Agreement. Hurtig Publishers is sold to Toronto-based McClelland & Stewart.

1990: The Junior Encyclopedia of Canada was published. Sales of the five-volume set totalled only 35,000.

1992: Hurtig became the leader of the National Party of Canada, which was created to battle foreign ownership of Canadian business and industry.

1994: The National Party of Canada disintegrated after Hurtig resigned as leader.

Hurtig went on to write other books, including “At Twilight in the Country: Memoirs of a Canadian Nationalist;” “Pay for Rent or Feed the Kids; “The Vanishing Country;” “Rushing to Armageddon” and “The Truth About Canada.”

(Source: canadianencyclopedia.ca and The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Press