David Orchard Biography
David
Orchard is a fourth generation prairie farmer. The
century-old Orchard farm is located at Borden, Saskatchewan,
where his father was born in the log house on the
homestead built by his parents and grandparents. David’s
father, Ralph Orchard, was an active member of his
community, serving on numerous school, church and
community boards. His mother, Margaret Anna (nee Ballard),
also born on a pioneer Saskatchewan homestead, graduated
near the head of her nursing class and served overseas
during World War II on the Italian front.
For the first eight years of his schooling David Orchard attended
Halcyonia school, the same rural school that John Diefenbaker had
attended many years earlier. (The Orchard farm is located just 3
miles from the Diefenbaker homestead.)
Orchard completed his high school in Borden, Saskatchewan, and
then went on to study first in the Faculty of Arts and Science,
and then Law, at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. After
completing his first year of law, he undertook a working tour of
a dozen countries across the globe, before taking over the family
farm. Constitutional law professor, Howard McConnell, later wrote
of his former student: "Although Orchard decided not to pursue
further law studies, he finished easily in the top ten percent of
his first year class."
Orchard later studied French at Laval University’s immersion
programme in Quebec City.
A successful pioneer of the organic agriculture movement, for 27
years Orchard has raised his wheat, oats, barley, canola and alfalfa
crops without herbicides, pesticides, chemicals or genetically modified
organisms (GMOs). Over the years he has expanded his farming operation
to over 2000 acres, roughly 25% of which he maintains in natural
forest and prairie habitat.
In 1985, Orchard was a founder of Citizens Concerned About
Free Trade (CCAFT), a non-partisan citizens organization concerned
about the effects on Canadian sovereignty of the free trade agreements
with the U.S. (FTA and later NAFTA). A nationwide mobilization led
by CCAFT convinced the Canadian Senate to block the proposed FTA
in 1988, forcing a general election on the issue, in which a majority
of Canadians cast their ballots for parties opposed to the FTA.
In 1993, he authored the best-selling book, The Fight for Canada:
Four Centuries of Resistance to American Expansionism (Stoddart,
1993; 2nd ed. Robert Davies, 1999), also available in French as
Hors des griffes de l'aigle: Quatre siècles de résistance
canadienne à l'expansionnisme américain (Robert
Davies, 1998).
The dean of Canadian historians, Kenneth McNaught, described Orchard’s
book as "distinctly moving” and “forthright and
carefully researched," adding, "...in an era of crumbling
federal states, or reinvigorated ethnicity and tribalism, and of
enormous pressure to seek shelter in harmonizing economic blocs,
it is time to talk a little about love of country. Orchard does
this intelligently, perceptively. Moreover, he has taken the trouble
(a great deal of it) to provide a convincing historical analysis
of the struggle waged by generations of Canadians to maintain their
right to forge a society different from — and perceived by
them as more humane than — that of their republican neighbour."
Noted American historian, Howard Zinn, described The Fight
for Canada as "...devastatingly accurate...a fine piece
of research and written with the kind of clarity that makes it accessible
to a large public, which it deserves."
Adam Zimmerman, retired chairman of Noranda, said, “Orchard
has demonstrated an intellectual grasp of issues that few people
understand. This book gives him enormous standing. The scholarship
is amazing and the logic compelling. Read it and you’ll be
the better Canadian for it.” Former Prime Minister Pierre
Trudeau, commenting on the pre-publication manuscript, called it
"a masterful treatment of the history of Canada."
David Orchard is an opponent of both Western and Quebec separatism
and a strong defender of the French and Aboriginal facts throughout
Canada. He actively campaigned against the Meech Lake and Charlottetown
Accords, because of what he referred to as their "mortal weakening
of the national government — the only institution that speaks
for all Canadians."
Orchard has a strong track record as an environmentalist who walks
his talk. He has played a significant role in the opposition to
the burial of nuclear waste on Canadian soil and to the clear cutting
of our forests. He has an active commitment to clean air, food and
water. His passion for the protection of the environment, wild life,
and Canadian heritage sites is well known.
David Orchard advocates a Canadian foreign policy designed to serve
Canada’s interests. A strong defender of international law,
he has opposed the bombing of Iraq (and the ongoing threats to that
country), of Yugoslavia and of Afghanistan. He sees these actions
as violations of international law and the U.N. Charter. He is a
proponent of rebuilding Canada’s military to be an effective
protector of our territorial integrity and of keeping our armed
forces under Canadian command.
In 1998, David Orchard ran for the leadership of the Progressive
Conservative Party of Canada, placing second to Joe Clark. He campaigned
on the issues that had brought him to public life: defence of Canada's
sovereignty, protection of the environment and the democratization
and reform of our electoral system, including its financing. His
campaign drew into the party a wide range of Canadians, among them
Bob Blair, “the man who built Nova Corporation”; singer-songwriter
Stompin’ Tom Connors; writer Margaret Atwood; Noranda’s
Adam Zimmerman, and concert pianist Anton Kuerti, to name only a
few.
Since 1998, Orchard has worked to help rebuild the Progressive
Conservative Party. In the 2000 federal election he was the PC candidate
in the riding of Prince Albert. Although not elected, he received
the highest percentage of votes of any PC candidate in the province
of Saskatchewan.
A dynamic and popular speaker, David Orchard is a frequent guest
on radio and TV programs and debates. His articles appear in Canada's
major newspapers.
David Orchard farms at Borden, Saskatchewan. Tel: (306) 652-7095
(residence), 664-8443 (office)
e-mail: davidorchard@sasktel.net
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