Douglas MacLeod Gourlay (born December 1, 1929) is a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

in Manitoba,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

from 1977 to 1986, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the government of Sterling Lyon. Gourlay was born in 1929 in Brandon, Manitoba. The son of Andrew Jackson Gourlay and Catherine Macleod Rammage, he was educated at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1952), the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

and the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. He served as with the Federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration from 1952 to 1956, and later worked as an agrologist. In 1952, Gourlay married Audrey May Porter. Gourlay served as a councillor for the Town of Swan River in mid-northern Manitoba between 1972 and 1975, and was its

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

from 1975 to 1977. He was also a member of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists during this period. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1977, narrowly defeating

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

candidate Leonard Harapiak in Swan River. He was not initially called to serve in Lyon's cabinet, but was named Minister of Municipal Affairs and

Minister of Northern Affairs The minister of northern affairs (french: ministre des Affaires du Nord) is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The position has been held by Dan Vandal since 20 November 2019. In 1953, the role of Minister of Northern Affairs and N ...

, with responsibility for the Communities Economic Development Fund on November 15, 1979. The Tories were defeated in the 1981 provincial election, although Gourlay again defeated Harapiak by a narrow margin. He narrowly lost to Harapiak by 65 votes in their third encounter, in the provincial election of 1986. He has not sought a return to politics since this time. In 1995, Gourlay became president and CEO of Montex Holding Company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourlay, Doug Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs 1929 births Living people University of Manitoba alumni University of Arizona alumni University of Colorado alumni Politicians from Brandon, Manitoba Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba People from Swan River, Manitoba Mayors of places in Manitoba