One of Canada's great patriots has died in Vancouver at the age of 84.

Mel Hurtig was an author, publisher, politician, owner of bookstores, and founding member of the Council of Canadians, which has been the country's leading social-justice organization for three decades.

"Mel Hurtig loved this country more than anyone I've ever met," council chair Maude Barlow said in a statement. "He founded the Council of Canadians along with many dedicated Canadians to fight for a better Canada and a better world. We mourn his passing."

Hurtig spent most of his life in Edmonton and published The Canadian Encyclopedia in 1985.

"It took the work of hundreds and hundreds of people across the country writing about little articles about their fields of expertise to bring this thing together," Calgary journalist Don Braid told CBC News. 

During the Pierre Trudeau era, Hurtig was a federal Liberal in a province that embraced the Progressive Conservatives. The Council of Canadians was formed in 1985 to promote foreign and defence policies to ensure that Canada would be a sovereign nation.

In the council's initial news release, Hurtig stated that the founders had serious concerns about a possible bilateral free-trade agreement with the United States.

"The C.O.C. will devote much effort towards studying the economic and political ramifications of the soon-to-be-released report of the Macdonald Royal Commission, which is widely thought to be on the verge of recommending a free trade agreement with the U.S.," the news release stated. "Later this year the C.O.C. will release alternate strategies for diversifying Canadian trade."

In the 1993 federal election, Hurtig led the nascent National Party, which argued vociferously against the agreement. Free trade had been negotiated by the Brian Mulroney government and was supported at the time by the federal Liberals under Jean Chretien.

The National Party did not elect any candidates and Hurtig was defeated in Edmonton Northwest by Liberal Anne McLellan, who now heads Canada's marijuana legalization task force.

After the 1993 election, the National Party was hampered by a bitter dispute between Hurtig and the party's major funder, Winnipeg entrepreneur Bill Loewen. Members of Hurtig's faction alleged that a large amount of money had been stolen; the party's treasurer claimed in a 1994 interview with the Georgia Straight that he inherited a $150,000 debt.

Hurtig quit as leader in the summer of 1994.

“I will not be involved in the party in the future until there is an adequate audit of the financial affairs for the year 1994,” Hurtig told the Straight at the time. “If that doesn’t happen, I will resign from the party.”

The party dissolved not long afterward.

In 2004, Hurtig led a successful national campaign to stop the federal government from joining the George W. Bush administration's National Missile Defense program.

"They look at this system, they look at the American expenditures, which are now $10 billion a year...and they know that it doesn't work," Hurtig told the Straight at the time. "And they say to themselves, 'These people are not stupid. So there must be something else they have in mind.' And the something else they have in mind is the weaponization of space and the domination of the world through the control of space."

He continued writing books after leaving the federal political scene, including Rushing to Armageddon: the Shocking Truth About Canada, Missile Defence, and Star Wars, which explained his opposition to the Bush administration's plans.

Hurtig's most recent book was The Arrogant Autocrat: Stephen Harper's Takeover of Canada.