[1] He served in the NDP government of Howard Pawley, and narrowly lost the party's leadership to Gary Doer in 1988.
A school principal and part-time farmer, Harapiak first ran for the Manitoba NDP in 1977 in the north-western riding of Swan River.
Due to a physical resemblance, he was dubbed the "Ukrainian Bobby Kennedy", and was considered as a leadership candidate in 1979 when Edward Schreyer resigned.
He joined Howard Pawley's cabinet immediately after the election, being sworn in as Minister of Natural Resources on April 17, 1986.
[1] After Pawley's government lost a vote of confidence in 1988, Harapiak ran for the Manitoba NDP leadership and did better than expected.