Peter Burtniak (March 26, 1925 [1] in Fork River, Manitoba [2] – April 8, 2004) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1977, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Edward Schreyer.. [1]
Fork River is about 13 km south of Winnipegosis, Manitoba 25 mins. north of Dauphin. It is located in the Rural Municipality of Mossey River. It is mainly surrounded by farmland.
Manitoba is a province at the longitudinal centre of Canada. It is often considered one of the three prairie provinces and is Canada's fifth-most populous province with its estimated 1.3 million people. Manitoba covers 649,950 square kilometres (250,900 sq mi) with a widely varied landscape, stretching from the northern oceanic coastline to the southern border with the United States. The province is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territories of Nunavut to the north, and Northwest Territories to the northwest, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south.
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking office in government. Politicians propose, support and create laws or policies that govern the land and, by extension, its people. Broadly speaking, a "politician" can be anyone who seeks to achieve political power in any bureaucratic institution.
The son of Fred Burtniak and Pearl Kalinchuk, [2] Burtniak was educated in the Manitoba school system, and worked as a farm implement dealer and farmer. During World War II, he served in the Fort Garry Horse Active Reserve Army Corps. He was President of the Fork River Branch of the Manitoba Pool Elevators for twenty years, and served as Provincial Director of the Manitoba Farmers Union from 1952 to 1956. He was also a board member of the Manitoba Federation of Agriculture from 1954 to 1956. [2]
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.
The Fort Garry Horse is a Canadian Army Reserve armoured regiment based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 38 Canadian Brigade Group.
He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1958 as a candidate of the CCF in Ethelbert Plains, but lost to Liberal-Progressive incumbent Michael Hryhorczuk by 981 votes. He ran for the same riding in the 1959 election, this time losing to Hryhorczuk by 266 votes.
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.
Michael Nicholas Hryhorczuk was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1949 to 1966, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Douglas Campbell. Hryhorczuk was originally a Liberal-Progressive, and later became a Liberal after the party changed its name. His father, Nicholas Hryhorczuk, was also a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1920 to 1945.
Burtniak backed Edward Schreyer for the provincial NDP leadership in 1969, and gave the nomination speech for Schreyer at the party's leadership convention. He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1969 election, defeating former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Stewart McLean [1] by 41 votes in Dauphin. [3] He NDP formed a minority government after this election, and Burtniak was appointed Minister of Tourism and Recreation on July 15, 1969. He was also given responsibility for the Manitoba Telephone System on August 4, 1970, and was given the second portfolio of Minister of Cultural Affairs on November 4, 1970. After a cabinet shuffle on December 1, 1971, he was named Minister of Highways, retaining responsibility for the MTS. [1]
In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is a right-of-centre political party in Manitoba, Canada and the only right-leaning party in the province. It is currently the governing party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, after winning a substantial majority in the 2016 provincial election.
Burtniak defeated Tory candidate Art Rampton by 999 votes in the 1973 election, [3] and was retained as Highways Minister in the Schreyer government's second term. He was also given responsibility for the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation on September 22, 1976. [1]
The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1977, and Burtniak narrowly lost his seat to Tory candidate James Galbraith. [3] He did not seek a return to politics after this time. [1]
James Gordon "Jim" Galbraith is a politician in Manitoba. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1981 for the riding of Dauphin.
He served as Vice-Chairman of the Manitoba Transport Board from 1982 to 1988. [2]
Burtniak died in Seven Oaks General Hospital in Winnipeg at the age of 79. [2]
