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, 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[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 James Fisher[c]
MLA for 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 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

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