Winnipeg North (provincial electoral district) explained

Winnipeg North was a provincial electoral division in Manitoba, Canada. It existed on two separate occasions.

It was initially created for the 1883 provincial election, and abolished with the 1920 election when Winnipeg became a single, ten-member constituency.

Winnipeg North was re-established for the elections of 1949 and 1953 as a four-member constituency. In 1958, it was divided into several single-member constituencies.

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Original constituency

The Winnipeg North constituency was created for the 1883 election, when the original Winnipeg constituency was divided into two sections: Winnipeg North and Winnipeg South. It was a single-member constituency until the 1914 election, when it returned two members. In 1914 and 1915 elections, electors of Winnipeg North were allowed to cast one vote for each of the two seats, which were called "Winnipeg North A" and "Winnipeg North B". This "post" system ended in 1920 when the district was rolled into a new single city wide district electing ten through STV.

In the early 20th century, Winnipeg North became known for its large working-class and immigrant communities. Many electors were recent immigrants from Eastern Europe, who profoundly changed the area's political character.

Solomon Hart Green, elected in 1910, was the first Jewish Canadian to serve in a Canadian provincial legislature. Richard Rigg, returned in 1915 for Winnipeg North "B", was the first Social Democrat elected in Manitoba.

Winnipeg North

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Elias Conklin	Liberal	1883	1886	Edward Drewry	Conservative	1886	1888	Lyman Jones	Liberal	1888	1892	Peter McIntyre	Liberal	1892	1899	William Neilson	Conservative	1899	1903	Sampson Walker	Conservative	1903	1907	John F. Mitchell	Conservative	1907	1910	Solomon Hart Green	Liberal	1910	1914

Winnipeg North A

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Joseph P. Foley	Conservative	1914	1915	Robert Newton Lowery	Liberal	1915	1920

Winnipeg North B

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Daniel McLean	Conservative	1914	1915	Richard Rigg	Social Democrat	1915	1917	Robert Jacob	Unionist-Liberal	1917	1920

Re-established constituency

The single constituency of Winnipeg was divided into three sections for the 1949 election: Winnipeg North, Winnipeg Centre and Winnipeg South. All three constituencies elected four members to the legislature, with electors choosing members by a single transferable ballot.

Winnipeg North had very prominent Jewish and Ukrainian communities in this period, and was by far the most left-wing section of the city. Bill Kardash, Manitoba's only Communist Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), was returned for Winnipeg North in both 1949 and 1953. The socialist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation was the area's dominant party, and returned two members in both elections.

The constituency was eliminated at the 1958 election, when Manitoba abolished its multi-member seats. Several single-member constituencies were created in its place.

Winnipeg North (1949–1958)

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Morris Gray	CCF	1949	1958	John Hawryluk	CCF	1949	1958	Bill Kardash	Communist	1949	1958	Frank Chester		1949	1953	Alexander Turk		1953	1958