Harold Steves is a descendant of Heinrich Stief and Regina Stahlecker, founders of the Steeves family in North America.

[2][3] Other notable descendants of Heinrich and Regina include William Steeves, a Father of Canadian Confederation.

[2] They imported the first purebred Holstein cattle into British Columbia,[4] established a dairy to provide milk for the fledgling City of Vancouver and were Western Canada's first seedsmen.

As an MLA he was active in the establishment of the British Columbia Agricultural Land Reserve[5] in 1973 under the Dave Barrett NDP Government and for the following decades, was one of its strongest defenders.

It is now owned by the oldest son, Jerry who raises grass fed beef and direct markets it, cut, wrapped and frozen, through the internet at www.stevesfarm.com Steves is the past chair of the Metro Vancouver Agriculture Committee and is promoting farmland preservation, urban agriculture and food security for the region.

Steves represents Richmond on the Metro Vancouver Agricultural Advisory Committee, and is chair of the board of the Britannia Heritage Shipyard National Historic Site Society.