Leader of the Opposition (Manitoba)

A list of parliamentary opposition leaders in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, upCanada, from 1870 to the present.

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.

Note: This list is incomplete; there are gaps between some leaders.

	Name	Party	Took office	Left office
	William Alexander Macdonald^[1]	Conservative	1892	1893
	John Andrew Davidson^[2]	Conservative	1893	1894
	James Fisher^[3]	Independent	1894	1896
.	Rodmond Roblin^[4]	Conservative	1896	1900
	Thomas Greenway	Liberal	1900	1904
	Charles Mickle^[5]	Liberal	1904	1906
	Charles Mickle	Liberal	1908	1909
	Tobias Norris	Liberal	1910	1915
	Albert Prefontaine	Conservative	1915	1920
	Unknown^[6]	Conservative	1920	1922
	Tobias Norris	Liberal	1922	1927
	Fawcett Taylor	Conservative	1927	1933
	William Sanford Evans	Conservative	1933	1936
	Errick Willis	Conservative	1936	1940
	Lewis Stubbs^[7]	Independent	1940	1941
	Huntly Ketchen	Anti-Coalition Conservative	1941	1943
	Seymour Farmer	CCF	1943	1947
	Edwin Hansford	CCF	1948	1950
	Errick Willis	Progressive Conservative	1950	1954
	Dufferin Roblin	Progressive Conservative	1954	1958
	Douglas Lloyd Campbell	Liberal	1958	1961
	Gildas Molgat	Liberal	1961	1969
	Walter Weir	Progressive Conservative	1969	1971
	Sidney Spivak	Progressive Conservative	1971	1975
	Donald Craik	Progressive Conservative	1975	1976
	Sterling Lyon	Progressive Conservative	1976	1977
	Edward Schreyer	NDP	1977	1979
	Howard Pawley	NDP	1979	1981
	Sterling Lyon	Progressive Conservative	1981	1983
	Gary Filmon	Progressive Conservative	1983	1988
	Sharon Carstairs	Liberal	1988	1990
	Gary Doer	NDP	1990	1999
	Gary Filmon	Progressive Conservative	1999	2000
	Bonnie Mitchelson	Progressive Conservative	2000	2000
	Stuart Murray	Progressive Conservative	2000	2006
	Hugh McFadyen	Progressive Conservative	2006	2012
	Brian Pallister	Progressive Conservative	2012	2016
	Flor Marcelino	NDP	2016	2017
	Wab Kinew	NDP	2017	Present

^ 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.
^ Davidson was the second officially recognized leader of the opposition and held the post until his election to the legislature was voided in 1894.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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
^ 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

"Leaders of Opposition - Manitoba". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2012-10-18.

[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.

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