Valentine Winkler

Valentine Winkler (March 18, 1864 – June 7, 1920) was a politician in

, was also a member of the provincial legislature from 1888 to 1899.

Winkler was born in

freemason

.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the

.

The Liberals were defeated in the 1899 provincial election, although Winkler retained his seat with a victory over Conservative candidate W.J. Potter. He resigned his seat in 1900 to run for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1900 federal election, as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada in the riding of Lisgar. He narrowly lost to independent candidate Robert Lorne Richardson, 3,392 votes to 3,143. Winkler's son later wrote that his father was not keen on entering federal politics, but ran at the behest of Clifford Sifton, a prominent cabinet minister from Manitoba.

Twelve days after the federal election, Winkler was narrowly re-elected in a by-election to serve Rhineland again in the provincial legislature. He defeated Bowman again, 185 votes to 174.

Winkler was re-elected by an increased margin in the 1903 provincial election, and again in the elections of 1907, 1910 and 1914. In 1914, he defeated future Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba William Johnston Tupper by 132 votes. The Conservative administration of Rodmond Roblin governed the province throughout this period, and Winkler served as a member of the opposition.

In 1915, Roblin was forced to resign from office after the Lieutenant Governor found his ministry guilty of corruption in the tendering of contracts for new legislative buildings. Although the Liberals did not command a majority in the legislature, they were called upon to form a new administration. Tobias Norris became Premier of Manitoba on May 15, 1915, and appointed Winkler as his Minister of Agriculture and Immigration.

A new election was called in 1915, which the Liberals won with a landslide majority. Winkler defeated Tupper a second time, and was retained as Agriculture and Immigration minister in Norris's government.

Winkler was an activist Minister of Agriculture. He passed the Settlers Animal Purchase Act, which allowed new settlers in

to purchase cattle on credit, and the Seed Grain Act, allowing municipalities to purchase seed on credit. He was also responsible for Manitoba's Farm Implements Act and Producer Dealers Act.

Winkler died of diabetes while campaigning for re-election in the provincial campaign of 1920. It may be noted that insulin was not discovered until two years later.

Winkler's son,

from 1935 to 1953.

v t e 1904 Canadian federal election: Lisgar
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Thomas Greenway	1,657
	Conservative	William Henry Sharpe	1,477

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online