Winnipeg Centre (provincial electoral district)

Template:Short description Winnipeg Centre was a provincial electoral division in Manitoba, Canada. It existed in three separate periods, using different boundaries and different election systems: 1888-1914 single-member district using first past the post; 1914-1920 two seats but each elected separately using first past the post; 1949 to 1958 (when it covered a third of Winnipeg) four-member district using STV; 1958 to 1981 single-member district using First Past The Post. In 1981, it was eliminated through redistribution.

It was initially created for the 1888 provincial election, and was abolished before the 1920 election when Winnipeg was made into a single ten-member constituency. It was re-established for the elections of 1949 and 1953, as a four-member constituency. The constituency was re-drawn in 1958, when Winnipeg and its suburbs were divided into twenty single-member constituencies, one of which was called Winnipeg Centre. This single-member constituency lasted until 1981, when it was eliminated through redistribution.

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Original constituency (1888–1920)

Winnipeg Centre was created for the 1888 election, when the city of Winnipeg was granted a third seat. Winnipeg had previously been represented in the legislature by MLAs elected in Winnipeg North and Winnipeg South.

Winnipeg Centre, a single-member constituency, was given a second member prior to the 1914 election. Electors were allowed to cast two ballots, one for each of the two seats, which were called "Winnipeg Centre A" and "Winnipeg Centre B".

The constituency returned four representatives in 1914 and 1915, all of whom were prominent figures.

Daniel Hunter McMillan was a cabinet minister in Thomas Greenway's government, and later served as the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba from 1911 to 1916.

Thomas Taylor, his successor, had served as Mayor of Winnipeg in the 1890s.

Thomas Herman Johnson was a prominent minister under Tobias Norris.

Fred Dixon was elected in Winnipeg Centre in 1914. He was notable as the first Labour representative in the legislature. In the elections of 1914 and 1915, he was co-endorsed by the Liberal Party and the Labour Representation Committee. He was the most prominent strike leader of the Winnipeg General Strike - his successful defence on the charge of seditious libel was cause for celebration among Winnipeg workers. In 1920, running in the new city-wide district, he won election as a Labour Party candidate and was re-elected in 1922.

Winnipeg Centre

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Daniel Hunter McMillan	Liberal	1888	1900	Thomas Taylor	Conservative	1900	1914

Winnipeg Centre A

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Thomas Herman Johnson	Liberal	1914	1922 (1920 district abolished)

Winnipeg Centre B

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Fred Dixon	Independent	1914	1928 (1920 district abolished)

Four-member constituency

The single Winnipeg constituency into three multiple-member districts for the 1949 election: Winnipeg North, Winnipeg Centre and Winnipeg South. All three constituencies elected four members to the legislature, with electors choosing representatives by a single transferable ballot.

The electorate of Winnipeg Centre included supporters of the socialist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the Liberal-Progressive and the Progressive Conservative Party. Independent candidate Stephen Juba also won election to the legislature in 1953.

Winnipeg Centre (1949–1958)

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Charles Rhodes Smith	Template:Canadian party colour	1949	1952	Paul Bardal	Template:Canadian party colour	1949	1953	Jack St. John	Template:Canadian party colour	1953	1958	Donovan Swailes	CCF	1949	1958	Gordon Fines	CCF	1949	1953	Hank Scott	PC	1953	1958	Stephen Juba	Independent	1953	1958

Single-member constituency

The single-member electoral division of Winnipeg Centre was created with the 1958 election, after the four-member division of the same name was eliminated.

The constituency was represented by Progressive Conservative James Cowan from 1958 to 1969, and was considered safe for the PC Party. Joseph "Bud" Boyce of the New Democratic Party won it in 1969, and held it until its abolition in 1981. Boyce left the NDP to join the newly formed Progressive Party prior to the 1981 election.

Winnipeg Centre (1958–1981)

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office	James Cowan	PC	1958	1969	Bud Boyce	NDP	1969	1981

Election results

1888

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1889 by-election

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1892

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1896

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1899

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1900 by-election

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1903

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1907

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1910

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1914

Winnipeg Centre A

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Winnipeg Centre B

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1915

Winnipeg Centre A

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Winnipeg Centre B

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1949

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1953

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1958

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1959

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1962

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1966

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1969

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1973

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1977

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References

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