A FORMER MLA and MP for the area has passed away.
Frank Howard was living in Surrey at the time of his death. He was 85.
A logger by profession and active in the International Woodworkers of America, Howard ran successfully in the provincial Skeena riding for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), which was the predecessor party to the NDP, in 1953. He was defeated in 1956.
Howard was then elected as the MP for the federal riding of Skeena in the 1957 federal election, beginning a 17-year parliamentary career.
He lost in 1974 but returned to politics as the provincial representative for the Skeena riding in 1979. Howard was re-elected in 1983 and retired from active politics after being defeated in 1986.
During his time in Ottawa, Howard championed for the right to vote for aboriginal people who lived on reserves.
Howard published his autobiography, From Prison to Parliament, in 2003.
The title refers to Howard being arrested and then serving a two-year prison sentence for armed robbery as a young man.