COLUMN: Carillon Flashback June 26, 1969 – Girard ends 56-year hold on Southeast by Liberals

Prior to the provincial election of June 25, 1969, southeastern Manitoba was a Liberal stronghold. Emerson, Carillon and La Verendrye were three solid Liberal constituencies that, it would appear, nothing would ever change.

Fifty-six years of Liberal domination in Emerson came to an abrupt end when Progressive Conservative Gabe Girard defeated MLA John Tanchuk by a 450-vote margin.

Girard, well-known in the constituency as the former Boundary School Division superintendent, lost the 1966 provincial election to Tanchuk by a slim 165 votes. Tanchuk had held the seat for the Liberals since 1957.

Despite his victory in the 1969 election, Girard told supporters there was no guarantee Emerson would remain a Conservative stronghold, and future elections would demand just as much conscientious work as this one did.

Girard said the needs of Emerson constituency went beyond the tangible requirements of better roads and drainage.

“We must determine what areas of development this area is best suited to, what the area is worth to the province as a whole, and how to best promote regional development here.”

While the Liberal upset in Emerson came as a surprise, more startling was the overall swing to the New Democratic Party. Springfield, formerly part of La Verendrye, becomes NDP territory, with Rene Toupin winning the constituency by more than 1,000 votes. The Liberal candidate finished a distant third there.

The constituency of Carillon was removed from the map by constituency redistribution to become part of La Verendrye. The biggest part of La Verendrye then became part of Springfield.

Former La Verendrye MLA Albert Vielfaure, who won the 1966 election over his Progressive Conservative rival by more than 1,000 votes, stepped aside to allow former Carillon MLA Leonard A. Barkman to run in the new La Verendrye. Barkman easily held the constituency for the Liberals, in spite of a surprising showing by the NDP.

NDP candidate Elmer Reimer garnered some 713 votes, barely raising a finger, falling only 300 shy of the hard-working, John Blatz, the Conservative candidate. Barkman, with Vielfaure as his campaign manager, won with over 900 votes more than Blatz.

But as surprising as the June 25 election results were in the Southeast, the provincial results were even more stunning.

Manitobans made a sharp turn to the left by electing 28 NDP MLA’s. Walter Weir’s Conservative government was reduced to 23, and lost five cabinet ministers in the process.

The Liberals were shredded down to a token group of five, and even new Liberal leader Bobby Bend lost his bid for a seat in the Manitoba Legislature.

This will be the second minority government in Manitoba in 11 years. In 1958, Premier Duff Roblin formed a minority government with 27 members.

In an interview with The Carillon during this year’s campaign, NDP leader Ed Schreyer said he was not thinking of implementing any drastic socialistic measures other than reviewing pricing policies on items like food (meat and milk, in particular), the appointment of a government ombudsman and support for the principles of the Official Languages Act. He would also consider a cut in medicare premiums and the institution of government automobile insurance, he said.

Asked by The Carillon what he would do with Sid Greene, an extreme leftist who had challenged him for the NDP leadership and other extremists in his camp, Schreyer had a ready answer.

“There are only three or four, and I’m sure I can handle them.”