Manitoba Premiers of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Manitoba’s long history of conflict, and the impact that has had on the rest of Canada, is revealed in these political biographies of the province’s first eighteen premiers. Throughout its history, Manitoba has been a province struggling with religious, linguistic, ethnic, and class conflict. Manitoba’s premiers have led–and often barely controlled–political movements and parties that have been consistently unstable. Their governments have been characterized by policies that have divided the province. The premiers of Manitoba have ranged from clever legislative managers, like Davis and Norquay, through tough party bosses like Greenway, Roblin, and Norris managing a rudimentary two-party system, to uneasy coalitions controlled by the iron-willed Bracken and his successors Garson and Campbell. The modern period has seen shifting partisan alliances under the successive premierships of Roblin, Weir, Schreyer, Lyon, Pawley, Filmon, and Doer. These are their stories.