Leader of the Opposition (Manitoba)
The Leader of the Opposition (French: Chef de l'Opposition) in Manitoba is the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba who leads the party recognized as the Official Opposition. This status generally goes to the leader of the second largest party in the Legislative Assembly.
William Alexander Macdonald was the first officially recognized Leader of the Opposition in Manitoba, although Rodmond Roblin is considered to have been the de facto opposition leader from 1890 until he lost his seat in the 1892 provincial election.
As of 18 January 2024[update], the Leader of the Opposition of Manitoba has been Wayne Ewasko, the interim head of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba.[1]
List of Opposition Leaders
Below is a list of parliamentary opposition leaders in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, from 1870 to the present.
No. | Portrait | Name Electoral district (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | William Alexander Macdonald[a] MLA for Brandon City (1860–1946) |
1892–1893 | Conservative
| ||
2 | John Andrew Davidson[b] MLA for Beautiful Plains (1852–1903) |
1893–1894 | Conservative
| ||
3 | Russell (1840–1927) |
1894–1896 | Independent | ||
4 | Rodmond Roblin[d] MLA for Woodlands (1853–1937) |
1896–1900 | Conservative
| ||
5 | Thomas Greenway MLA for Mountain (1838–1908) |
1900–1904 | Liberal | ||
6 | Charles Mickle[e] MLA for Birtle (1849–1919) |
1904–1906 | Liberal | ||
1908–1909 | |||||
7 | Tobias Norris MLA for Lansdowne (1861–1936) |
1910–1915 | Liberal | ||
8 | Albert Prefontaine MLA for Carillon (1861–1935) |
1915–1920 | Conservative
| ||
Unknown[f] 1920–1922 | |||||
(7) | Tobias Norris MLA for Lansdowne (1861–1936) |
1922–1927 | Liberal | ||
9 | Fawcett Taylor MLA for Portage la Prairie (1878–1940) |
1927–1933 | Conservative
| ||
10 | William Sanford Evans MLA for Winnipeg (1869–1949) |
1933–1936 | Conservative
| ||
11 | Errick Willis MLA for Deloraine (1896–1967) |
1936–1940 | Conservative
| ||
12 | Lewis Stubbs[g] MLA for Winnipeg (1878–1958) |
1940–1941 | Independent | ||
13 | Huntly Ketchen MLA for Winnipeg (1872–1959) |
1941–1943 | Anti-Coalition Conservative
| ||
14 | Seymour Farmer MLA for Winnipeg (1878–1951) |
1943–1947 | Co-operative Commonwealth
| ||
15 | Edwin Hansford MLA for St. Boniface (1895–1959) |
1948–1950 | Co-operative Commonwealth
| ||
(11) | Errick Willis MLA for Deloraine (1896–1967) |
1950–1954 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
16 | Dufferin Roblin MLA for Winnipeg South (1917–2010) |
1954–1958 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
17 | Douglas Lloyd Campbell MLA for Lakeside (1895–1995) |
1958–1961 | Liberal | ||
18 | Gildas Molgat MLA for Ste. Rose (1895–1995) |
1961–1969 | Liberal | ||
19 | Walter Weir MLA for Minnedosa (1929–1985) |
1969–1971 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
20 | Sidney Spivak MLA for River Heights (1928–2002) |
1971–1975 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
21 | Donald Craik MLA for Riel (1931–1985) |
1975–1976 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
22 | Sterling Lyon MLA for Souris-Killarney (1927–2010) |
1976–1977 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
23 | Edward Schreyer MLA for Rossmere (born 1935) |
1977–1979 | New Democratic
| ||
24 | Howard Pawley MLA for Selkirk (1934–2015) |
1979–1981 | New Democratic
| ||
(22) | Sterling Lyon MLA for Charleswood (1927–2010) |
1981–1983 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
25 | Gary Filmon MLA for Tuxedo (born 1942) |
1983–1988 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
26 | Sharon Carstairs MLA for River Heights (born 1942) |
1988–1990 | Liberal | ||
27 | Gary Doer MLA for Concordia (born 1948) |
1990–1999 | New Democratic
| ||
(25) | Gary Filmon MLA for Tuxedo (born 1942) |
1999–2000 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
28 | Bonnie Mitchelson MLA for River East (born 1947) |
2000 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
29 | Stuart Murray MLA for Kirkfield Park (born 1954) |
2000–2006 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
30 | Hugh McFadyen MLA for Fort Whyte (born 1967) |
2006–2012 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
31 | Brian Pallister MLA for Fort Whyte (born 1954) |
2012–2016 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
32 | Logan (born 1951 or 1952) |
2016–2017 | New Democratic
| ||
33 | Wab Kinew MLA for Fort Rouge (born 1981) |
2017–2023 | New Democratic
| ||
34 | Heather Stefanson MLA for Tuxedo (born 1970) |
2023–2024 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
35 | Wayne Ewasko MLA for Lac du Bonnet |
2024–present | Progressive Conservative
|
Notes
- ^ W.A. Macdonald was the first officially recognized leader of the opposition and held the post until his election to the legislature was voided in 1893.
- ^ Davidson was the second officially recognized leader of the opposition and held the post until his election to the legislature was voided in 1894.
- ^ It is unclear whether Fisher was de facto or de jure Opposition leader. It is also unclear whether he joined the Conservative Party at some point.
- ^ Hugh John Macdonald was the party's official leader from 1897 but did not have a seat in the legislature so Roblin remained official opposition leader.
- ^ Edward Brown was the Liberal Party's leader from 1906 to 1908 but did not have a seat in the legislature. It is unclear whether Mickle remained Official Opposition leader during this period, whether the position was assigned to another MLA, or whether it became vacant.
- ^ Despite having fewer seats than the Independent Farmers following the 1920 provincial election, the Conservatives remained the official opposition. The Conservative leader Richard G. Willis did not win a seat in the election, so it is unknown who served as leader of the Opposition.
- ^ Stubbs was the only sitting opposition MLA for a period in 1940 after all the remaining opposition parties joined John Bracken's wartime coalition government. It's unclear whether he was given the title of leader of the Official Opposition or whether he retained such a title after Social Credit MLA Salome Halldorson and Conservatives John Poole and Huntly Ketchen left the governing coalition to sit on the opposition bench prior to the 1941 general election.
References
- ^ "Premiers of Canada and Leaders of Opposition". www.legassembly.sk.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
Sources
- "Leaders of Opposition - Manitoba". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2012-10-18.