Winnipeg Centre (provincial electoral district)

This article is about an historical electoral division in Manitoba. For the current federal riding, see Winnipeg Centre.

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 ^[1] - 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	Liberal–Progressive	1949	1952
	Paul Bardal	Liberal–Progressive	1949	1953
	Jack St. John	Liberal–Progressive	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
	Progressive	Bud Boyce	1981	1981

Election results

1888

1888 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Daniel Hunter McMillan	972	67.41
	Conservative	Thomas Gilroy	470	32.59
Total valid votes			1,442	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			N/A	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1889 by-election

Manitoba provincial by-election, 1889
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Hunter McMillan	Acclaimed	–	–
Total valid votes				–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			N/A	–	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1892

1892 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Hunter McMillan	1,177	68.83	–
	Conservative	John Julius Winram	533	31.17	–
Total valid votes			1,710	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			2,627	65.09	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1896

1896 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Hunter McMillan	Acclaimed	–	–
Total valid votes				–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			2,848	–	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1899

1899 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Hunter McMillan	1,364	52.20	–
	Conservative	A.J. Andrews	1,249	47.80	–
Total valid votes			2,613	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			3,923	66.61	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1900 by-election

Manitoba provincial by-election, 1900
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Government	Thomas William Taylor	1,117	53.75	–
	Opposition	Robert Muir	961	46.25	–
Total valid votes			2,078	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			N/A	–	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1903

1903 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Taylor	1,276	45.23	–
	Liberal	Dr. John A. McArthur	1,123	39.81	–
	Labour	William Scott	422	14.96	–
Total valid votes			2,821	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			3,692	76.41	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1907

1907 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Taylor	2,314	53.06	7.83
	Liberal	John Adolphus MacArthur	2,047	46.94	7.13
Total valid votes			4,361	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			5,247	83.11	6.71
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1910

1910 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Taylor	2,017	49.80	-3.26
	Labour	Fred Dixon	1,934	47.75	–
	Socialist	William S. Cummings	99	2.44	–
Total valid votes			4,050	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			5,302	76.39	-6.73
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1914

Winnipeg Centre A

1914 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Thomas Herman Johnson	7,998	50.31
	Conservative	A.J. Andrews	6,948	43.70
	Labour	William H. "Bill" Hoop	953	5.99
Total valid votes			15,899	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			18,501	85.94
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

Winnipeg Centre B

1914 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Fred Dixon	8,205	51.85
	Conservative	Frederick Joseph Gustin McArthur	6,692	42.29
	Labour	George Armstrong	928	5.86
Total valid votes			15,825	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			18,501	85.54
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1915

Winnipeg Centre A

1915 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Herman Johnson	6,623	74.20	23.89
	Conservative	Andrew James Norquay	2,303	25.80	-17.90
Total valid votes			8,926	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,373	66.75	-19.19
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

Winnipeg Centre B

1915 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Fred Dixon	6,443	69.32	17.47
	Conservative	Hannes Marino Hannesson	2,048	22.03	-20.25
	Labour	George Armstrong	804	8.65	2.79
Total valid votes			9,295	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,373	69.51	-16.03
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1949

1949 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Progressive	Charles Rhodes Smith	5,140	19.37	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Donovan Swailes	5,025	18.94	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Gordon Fines	4,321	16.29	–
	Liberal–Progressive	Paul Bardal	3,538	13.34	–
	Progressive Conservative	Hank Scott	3,373	12.71	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Mrs. Ina Thompson	1,741	6.56	–
	Labor–Progressive	John McNeil	1,392	5.25	–
	Independent Liberal	Stephen Juba	1,155	4.35	–
Total valid votes			25,685	–	–
Rejected			220	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			50,339	51.46	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1953

1953 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Progressive	Jack St. John	5,119	19.43	-13.28
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Donovan Swailes	4,204	15.96	-25.83
	Independent	Stephen Juba	4,172	15.84	11.49
	Progressive Conservative	Hank Scott	3,108	11.80	-0.91
	Independent	Lewis Stubbs	2,556	9.70	–
	Liberal–Progressive	Anne Ethel "Nan" Murphy	1,991	7.56	-25.15
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Gordon Fines	1,339	5.08	-36.71
	Social Credit	Percival W. Brown	1,132	4.30	–
Total valid votes			23,621	–	–
Rejected			406	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			47,122	50.99	-0.47
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1958

1958 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	James Cowan	3,462	55.61	43.81
	Liberal–Progressive	Paul W. Goodman	1,623	26.07	-0.92
	Co-operative Commonwealth	David Adrian Mulligan	1,141	18.33	-2.72
Total valid votes			6,226	–	–
Rejected			58	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,730	45.77	-5.22
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1959

1959 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	James Cowan	3,712	55.84	0.23
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Fred Paulley	1,474	22.17	3.85
	Liberal–Progressive	John Gurzon Harvey	1,462	21.99	-4.08
Total valid votes			6,648	–	–
Rejected			63	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,424	49.99	4.22
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1962

1962 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	James Cowan	2,779	50.72	-5.12
	Liberal	Francis Bastin "Frank" Lamont	1,684	30.74	–
	New Democratic	Donovan Swailes	1,016	18.54	–
Total valid votes			5,479	–	–
Rejected			110	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			11,282	49.54	-0.45
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1966

1966 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	James Cowan	2,982	47.09	-3.63
	Liberal	Ross White	1,917	30.27	-0.47
	New Democratic	Donald Malinowski	1,434	22.64	4.10
Total valid votes			6,333	–	–
Rejected			28	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			12,366	51.44	1.90
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1969

1969 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Bud Boyce	2,398	51.34	28.69
	Progressive Conservative	James Cowan	1,451	31.06	-16.02
	Liberal	Joseph Wapemoose	822	17.60	-12.67
Total valid votes			4,671	–	–
Rejected			66	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			9,418	50.30	-1.14
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1973

1973 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Bud Boyce	3,010	53.12	1.79
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Wilson	1,520	26.83	-4.24
	Liberal	Ken Arenson	1,092	19.27	1.67
	Social Credit	Ed Storozuk	44	0.78	–
Total valid votes			5,666	–	–
Rejected			55	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			8,343	68.57	18.28
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1977

1977 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Bud Boyce	2,217	48.93	-4.19
	Progressive Conservative	Philip S. Lee	1,587	35.03	8.20
	Liberal	Ken Wong	727	16.05	-3.23
Total valid votes			4,531	–	–
Rejected			6	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			7,843	57.85	-10.72
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

References

1. Bumsted, Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, p. 90