John Thompson (Manitoba politician)
Encyclopedia
John William McLeod Thompson , BA, LLB, (July 18, 1908 in Elkhorn, Manitoba
Elkhorn, Manitoba
Elkhorn is a village in southwestern Manitoba, Canada.Incorporated on January 2, 1906, it is located approximately 105 kilometers west of Brandon. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Wallace.-History:...

 – December 15, 1986 in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

) was a lawyer, politician and judge in Manitoba, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1953 to 1962 as a Progressive Conservative, and held several cabinet posts in the government of Dufferin (Duff) Roblin.

Education and local politics

Thompson received a Bachelor of Arts from Brandon College, which he attended with Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...

 and Stanley Knowles
Stanley Knowles
Stanley Howard Knowles, PC, OC was a Canadian parliamentarian. Knowles represented the riding of Winnipeg North Centre from 1942 to 1958 on behalf of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and again from 1962 to 1984 representing the CCF's successor, the New Democratic Party .Knowles was widely...

 in the late twenties. Upon graduation he went on to study law at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

, graduating in 1933 with an LLB. While there he was a member of the top debating team with his debating partner and future Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...

 (CCF) leader Lloyd Stinson
Lloyd Stinson
Lloyd Stinson was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, and the leader of that province's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1953 to 1959. Although widely regarded as a capable leader, he was unable to achieve a major electoral breakthrough for his party.Stinson was born in Treherne,...

.

After graduation the young lawyer settled back in Elkhorn and built up his law practice. Active in the Elkhorn community, Thompson was a municipal councillor from 1933 to 1939. Turning to national politics, he campaigned in the 1940 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1940
The Canadian federal election of 1940 was the 19th general election in Canadian history. It was held March 26, 1940 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 19th Parliament of Canada...

 as a "National Government" (i.e., Conservative) candidate, but lost to Liberal James Ewen Matthews.

Shortly after marrying Lorraine Dutton of Virden
Virden, Manitoba
Virden, Manitoba is a town in southwestern Manitoba. Oil was first discovered in 1951, and Virden has since come to be known as the "Oil Capital of Manitoba"....

  in 1942, Thompson joined the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

 where he served for three years as a leading airman during World War II. After the war Thompson again focused on local politics in Elkhorn and was elected and served as a school trustee from 1945 to 1947, and then spent 6 years as Mayor of Elkhorn from 1947 to 1953 (his father, Wellington John Thompson, had also been Mayor of Elkhorn in 1922, and was editor of the local newspaper, The Elkhorn Advocate).

Member of the Legislative Assembly for Virden

Thompson was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the June 1953 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1953
Manitoba's general election of June 8, 1953 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. This was the first election held in Manitoba after the breakup of a ten-year coalition government led by the Liberal-Progressives and Progressive Conservatives...

 as the Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 member for Virden. Despite the Liberal-Progressives
Manitoba Liberal Party
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.-Origins and early development :...

 winning a majority under Douglas L. Campbell, Thompson, with 57% of the vote, had defeated G.A. Mooney to become the first Tory to serve Virden since 1914. In joining the opposition benches Thompson soon established himself as one of the best speakers in the House. When Duff Roblin assumed the party leadership the following year Thompson was a key voice of the opposition attacks during the 1956 beer price debate, the oil lease scandal of 1957, and was a sharp critic on penal reform.

In the Manitoba Cabinet

The PCs took power in 1958 after winning a minority government under Roblin. With 64% of the vote Thompson was re-elected in a redistributed Virden constituency, where he defeated Liberal-Progressive incumbent Francis C. Bell. As the Tories assumed office on June 30, 1958 Thompson was a surprise choice by Roblin for Minister of Labour. Having had no experience in labour relations, Thompson had been tipped as a possible choice for Attorney-General, which instead went to Sterling Lyon
Sterling Lyon
Sterling Rufus Lyon, PC, OC was a lawyer, cabinet minister, and the 17th Premier of Manitoba, Canada from 1977 to 1981. His government introduced several fiscally-conservative measures, and was sometimes seen as a local version of the government of Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom...

. However Roblin saw in Thompson a “born conciliator” who “never failed to deliver a cogent and effective argument”. As Minister of Labour Thompson declared his major task as the “welfare of the worker”. He was also named Minister of Municipal Affairs.

At the end of March 1959, following heated debates regarding the upcoming fiscal budget, the government lost the confidence of the legislature and fresh elections were called for June. Easily re-elected in the May 1959 election with 68% of the Virden vote, Thompson continued to hold his Labour and Municipal Affairs portfolios.

As the end of 1959 approached, Roblin and Deputy Premier and former party leader Errick Willis
Errick Willis
Errick French Willis was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as leader of the province's Conservative Party between 1936 and 1954, and was responsible for beginning and ending the party's alliance with the Liberal-Progressive Party...

 were discussing the timing of Willis departure and next post. Willis resigned his office on December 21, 1959, and Roblin then appointed Thompson to move from Labour and pick up the Public Works portfolio. Three weeks later Willis was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba is the viceregal representative in Manitoba of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...

. Thompson stayed as Minister of Public Works for the remainder of his time in office.

Later life

As an election drew near in the fall of 1962, and after nine years in the Legislature, Thompson decided not to seek re-election. He resigned his portfolio and his seat on October 24, 1962, and was appointed as a County Court Judge. The PCs went on to a second majority victory that December under Roblin.

Judge Thompson then served the southern and eastern Manitoba judicial districts for more than twenty years, retiring from the bench in 1983. He died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

on December 15, 1986 in Winnipeg.
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