Despite having moved into Acadia two years ago, Mr. Harding’s roots in the community are deep.

When the Harding family moved onto Fifth Street in 1962, the end of the street was the end of the city. Mapleridge and eastern Willow Park were wide open fields. The rest of Willow Park was poplar trees and pasture.

Mr. Harding attended Acadia, David Thompson, and Andrew Davison schools and was a member of the first class to graduate from Lord Beaverbrook High School after attending all three years.

In 1975 Mr. Harding moved to Edmonton to work for the then MLA for what was called Calgary-Egmont. After six years working with the MLA on issues in Acadia, Fairview, Willow Park, Mapleridge, and Kingsland, Mr. Harding was posted to open the Alberta office in New York City.

Following a 3½ year tour of duty, Mr. Harding was posted to Calgary with the Department of Economic Development and Trade where he worked with businesses looking to invest in Calgary and area planning to expand. Various projects had Mr. Harding moving back and forth between Calgary and Edmonton before he joined the staff of the Calgary Police Commission, the civilian governance agency of the Calgary Police Service.

Mr. Harding is now semi-retired and working on a manuscript about the Lougheed years of the provincial government.

Acadia in 2024 is rather surprising to Mr. Harding. Tree-lined streets and green lawns have, over 40 years, replaced bare streets of a new neighbourhood.

Mr. Harding’s two adult children and two grandchildren live on Long Island New York.