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

Note: This list is incomplete; there are gaps between some 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[lower-alpha 1] MLA for Brandon City (1860–1946)	1892–1893		Conservative
2		John Andrew Davidson[lower-alpha 2] MLA for Beautiful Plains (1852–1903)	1893–1894		Conservative
3		James Fisher[lower-alpha 3] MLA for Russell (1840–1927)	1894–1896		Independent
4		Rodmond Roblin[lower-alpha 4] MLA for Woodlands (1853–1937)	1896–1900		Conservative
5		Thomas Greenway MLA for Mountain (1838–1908)	1900–1904		Liberal
6		Charles Mickle[lower-alpha 5] 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[lower-alpha 6] 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[lower-alpha 7] 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		Flor Marcelino MLA for 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

1. 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.
2. Davidson was the second officially recognized leader of the opposition and held the post until his election to the legislature was voided in 1894.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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

1. "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.