Harvard faced his most difficult bid for re-election in the 2000 campaign, narrowly defeating Canadian Alliance challenger Cyril McFate by 13,901 votes to 11,569.

Progressive Conservative Curtis Moore finished third with 9,991 votes, causing many to regard the riding as winnable for a "united right" in the next election.

Harvard supported Paul Martin for the Liberal Party leadership over a period of several years, and it was perhaps for this reason that Jean Chrétien never appointed him to the Cabinet of Canada.

[3] It is rumoured that this was done at the urging of Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray, who was seeking the Liberal candidacy for a Winnipeg-area riding in the upcoming federal election.

While serving as the LG, as is the tradition, he and his then-spouse, Her Honour, Lenore Berscheid, resided in Government House (Manitoba) in Winnipeg.

His fourth child, Sasha Harvard (1979–2013) was completing his Law degree, and lived in Government House with his parents and their cats.