The is a political party in
Manitoba ,
Canada . Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, in the period following the province's creation in 1870.
Originally, there were no official political parties in Manitoba, although many leading politicians were affiliated with parties that existed at the national level. In Manitoba's first
Legislative Assembly , the leader of the opposition was
Edward Hay , a Liberal who represented the interests of recent
Anglophone immigrants from
Ontario . Not a party leader as such, he was still a leading voice for the newly-transplanted "Ontario
Grit " tradition. In 1874, Hay served as
Minister Of Public Works in the government of
Marc-Amable Girard , which included both
Conservatives and Liberals.
During the 1870s, a Liberal network began to emerge in the city of
Winnipeg . One of the key figures in this network was
William Luxton , owner of the
Manitoba Free Press newspaper and himself a member of the
Manitoba Legislature on two occasions. Luxton was not initially supportive of Premier
Robert A. Davis (1874-1878), but endorsed the Davis ministry after brought
John Norquay into cabinet (Davis's early supporters were primarily from the
Francophone community, and Norquay's presence gave the ministry greater credibility among the anglophone population). Luxton subsequently supported Davis and Norquay against Conservative
Orangeman Thomas Scott , a leader of the local opposition (not to be confused with the figure executed by
Louis Riel in 1870).
Although the Davis administration was on favourable terms with
Federal Liberal Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie (1873-1878), his successor Norquay was more closely aligned with the
Federal Conservatives . This was partly a matter of necessity. As a small province, Manitoba needed to be on favourable terms with whatever party was in power at the federal level. As such, when
John A. Macdonald 's Conservatives were returned to power in 1878, the local balance of power began to shift. Luxton's Liberal network supported Norquay against Scott in 1878 and 1879, but was subsequently marginalized by the Norquay government. In 1882, Norquay forged a new alliance with the province's Conservatives.
Also in 1882,
Thomas Greenway formed a new organization known as the
Provincial Rights Party . Based in the province's rural areas, this group soon surpassed the Winnipeg Liberals as the dominant opposition to Norquay. After the election of 1883, Greenway united the opposition MLAs into the Manitoba Liberals (which were soon recognized as a de-facto political party). For the next 21 years, Greenway's control over the party would be unchallenged.
Greenway's Liberals took power in 1888 and ended the
Canadian Pacific Railway 's monopoly in the province. The Greenway government's most notable feat in office was curtailing the rights of Manitoba's
French Canadian s population. Manitoba had been founded as a bilingual province, but Greenway's government provoked the
Manitoba Schools Question , ending the educational rights of (predominantly French) Catholics, and making the public school system entirely English and Protestant. English became the province's sole official language.
Greenway was able to win large majorities in 1892 and 1896, based largely on
Single-issue populism relating to the schools question. After this was resolved in 1897, his government became increasingly directionless. The Liberals were defeated by the
Manitoba Conservative Party in 1899.
The Liberals were unable to regain their previous support base in the decade that followed. Greenway continued to lead the party through a disastrous 1903 campaign, winning only 9 seats. He resigned in 1904 to run for federal office.
Charles Mickle was chosen parliamentary leader on
December 5 ,
1904 , and led the party until a provincial convention was held in late March 1906. That convention acclaimed
Edward Brown as the party's new leader. Brown failed to win a seat in the 1907 election, however, and resigned shortly thereafter. Mickle again became the party's legislative leader, and served as leader of the opposition until leaving politics in 1909.
Tobias C. Norris became Liberal leader in 1910. When the
Tories under
Rodmond P. Roblin resigned amid scandal in 1915, he became the province's
Premier , and retained the position until 1922. The Norris Liberals introduced
Temperance laws, votes for women, workers compensation, and the minimum wage.
The Norris administration's relationship with the
Liberal Party Of Canada under
Wilfrid Laurier was often antagonistic. Norris withdrew funding for French-language education in 1916, at a time when the federal Liberals were attempting to regain the support of Quebec nationalists. The Manitoba Liberals also supported
Robert Borden 's
Union Government in the election of 1917 (see
Conscription Crisis Of 1917 ), and were not reconciled with the "
Laurier Liberals " until 1922. Even then, they refused to officially re-align themselves with the federal party.
The Liberals were swept from power in 1922 by the
United Farmers Of Manitoba , who were also known as the
Progressive Party . Norris continued to lead the party through most of the 1920s, but was replaced by
Hugh Robson before the 1927 election (which was again won by the Progressives). Robson, in turn, resigned on
January 3 ,
1930 . He was replaced as parliamentary leader by
James Breakey . In
1931 ,
Murdoch Mackay was selected as the party's official leader.
Pressured by
William Lyon Mackenzie King , Mackay brought the Liberals into a coalition with Premier
John Bracken 's Progressives before the 1932 election. The
National Progressive Party had been largely absorbed into the
Liberal Party Of Canada by this time, and King believed that it was foolish to divide the resources of the parties within Manitoba. He was especially concerned that the
Conservatives could recapture the provincial government if the Liberals and Progressives were not united.
For the election of 1932, the provincial government referred to itself as "
Liberal-Progressive " (effectively a fusion of the parties, albeit one dominated by Progressives). A small group of Liberals, led by St. Boniface mayor
David Campbell , opposed the merger and ran as "Continuing Liberals". They were resoundingly defeated. After the election, the Liberals of Manitoba were absorbed into the Progressive Party. Two non-coalition Liberals were elected in 1936, but they were not intended to represent a rival party.
Despite being dominated by Progressives, the merged party soon became popularly known as the "Liberal Party of Manitoba". The federal Progressive Party had long since disappeared, and the "Progressive" name had little continued meaning in Manitoba politics. The party formally changed its name to the "Liberal Party of Manitoba" in 1961, over only scattered objections from Progressive diehards.
In 1940, Bracken's Liberal-Progressives forged an even broader coalition, bringing the
Conservatives ,
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and
Social Credit in a "non-partisan" government. This coalition governed the province until 1950, although the CCF left in 1943.
The Liberal-Progressive governments were cautious and moderate. Bracken's government undertook few major initiatives, and was unfriendly to labour issues even during its alliance with the CCF. Following
World War II , the government of
Stuart Sinclair Garson (who replaced Bracken as premier in January 1943) led a program of rapid rural electrification, but was also otherwise conservative. Garson left provincial politics in 1948 to join the federal Liberal
Cabinet of
Louis St. Laurent .
The government of Garson's successor,
Douglas Lloyd Campbell , was
Socially Conservative and generally opposed to state intervention of any sort. The educational system remained primitive (it was dominated in the 1950s by one-room schools), and no significant steps were taken on language or labour issues. The province did reform its liquor laws during this period, however.
The Liberal-Progressives were swept out of office in the
1958 Provincial Election by the
Progressive Conservatives under
Dufferin Roblin . Dominated by
Red Tories , this party was actually to the left of Campbell's government.
Gildas Molgat , a protege of Campbell, became party leader in 1961. Molgat prevented the Liberals from falling to third-party status during the 1960s, but never posed a serious threat to Roblin's government.
The Liberal Party subsequently declined as politics in the province became polarized between the
Tories and the
New Democratic Party Of Manitoba (NDP).
Robert Bend , chosen as party leader in 1969, led the party to only five seats in the
Election That Followed . A succession of leaders, including
Israel Asper (
1970 -
1975 ),
Charles Huband (1975-1978) and
Doug Lauchlan (1980-1982) were unable to prevent the party's decline. It reached its nadir in the
1981 Election , being swept from the assembly entirely.
In 1984, the party chose
Sharon Carstairs as its new leader. She was elected to the assembly in the
1986 Election , and in the
1988 Election , led the party to 20 seats and official opposition status. This was precipitated by the unpopularity of
Howard Pawley 's
New Democratic government, which allowed the Liberals to win the support of many centre-left voters (the Liberals had largely abandoned their right-wing origins in the mid-1970s, particularly after Asper stepped down as party leader.)
This proved to be a temporary recovery. The NDP revived under
Gary Doer , and the Liberals slipped back into third place in the
1990 Election with only seven seats, against 20 for the NDP and 30 for the Conservatives.
Carstairs was replaced as leader by
Paul Edwards in 1993. By the time the
1995 Election was called, the party had managed to recover to a strong second-place position in the polls. They ran a poor campaign, however, and were again overtaken by the NDP well before election day. The Liberals won only three seats, and lost official party status. Edwards, who was defeated in his own riding, stepped down as party leader in 1996.
The
Leadership Convention of 1996 exposed deep divisions in the party, as
Ginny Hasselfield defeated maverick
Member Of The Legislative Assembly (MLA)
Kevin Lamoureux by only 21 votes. Two of the party's three MLAs (Lamoureux and
Gary Kowalski ) subsequently sat as "Independent Liberals", and there were threats of legal action between Hasselfield and Lamoureux. The party was only reunited when Hasselfield resigned in 1998, replaced by former federal
Member Of Parliament (MP)
Jon Gerrard .
Liberal Party support fell by 10% in the
Election Of 1999 , which allowed
Gary Doer 's New Democrats to regain centre-left support and win government. Gerrard became the party's only MLA, winning election in the upscale riding of
River Heights . The party failed to recover much of its support base in the
2003 Election , although Lamoureux was able to regain his seat in north Winnipeg to become the party's second MLA.
- 1. Gildas Molgat April 20 , 1961 - May 10 , 1969
- 2. Robert Bend May 10 , 1969 - October 31 , 1970
- 3. Israel Asper October 31 , 1970 - February 22 , 1975
- 4. Charles Huband February 22 , 1975 - 1978
- 5. Doug Lauchlan November 30 , 1980 - 1982
- 6. Sharon Carstairs March 4 , 1984 - June 4 , 1993
- 7. Paul Edwards June 4 , 1993 - 1996
- 8. Ginny Hasselfield October 19 , 1996 - 1998
- 9. Jon Gerrard October 17 , 1998 -
(Note:
Stan Roberts served as the party's acting leader from 1969 to 1970, after
Robert Bend was defeated in the
Province's 1969 Election . Although
Lloyd Axworthy was the party's only MLA from 1977 to 1979, he was never party leader.)
