Edward Gurney Vaux Evans (September 3, 1907 – January 8, 1987) was 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 ...
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’, â ...
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, the son of
William Sanford Evans
William Sanford Evans (December 18, 1869 – June 27, 1949) was a Manitoba politician. Between 1933 and 1936, he was the leader of that province's Conservative Party caucus.
Evans was born in Spencerville, Ontario, the son of Rev. J.S. Ev ...
, a Winnipeg mayor and Conservative MLA and party leader, and Irene Gurney, Evans was educated at
Ridley College
Ridley College (also known as RC, Ridley) is a private boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) from Niagara Falls. The school confers the Ontario Secondary School Diploma ...
and 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. receiving a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree. He became a publisher at his father's firm of Sanford Evans & Co. Ltd., and was assistant director of Ordnance Services in the
lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
. He received the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
, and was a member of the Canadian Empire Club.
Evans served as executive director for the Carswell-Shaw Commission which assessed Manitoba flood damages in 1950 and was executive director of the Red River Valley Board following the 1950 flood. He was also chairman of the Manitoba Civil Service Commission.
Evans was a longtime friend of Dufferin Roblin, and was personally encouraged by Roblin to run for the provincial Progressive Conservatives. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1953 provincial election, in the riding of Winnipeg South. This riding elected four members by preferential balloting; Evans finished fourth on the first ballot, was declared elected on the sixth and final count. In 1954, members of the Winnipeg Press Gallery unanimously endorsed him as the "most dignified man in the house" at their annual dinner.
He was re-elected in the 1958 provincial election, easily winning in the redistributed single-member constituency of Fort Rouge. The Progressive Conservatives formed a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
after this election, and Evans was named
Minister of Industry and Commerce A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce.
Notable examples are:
List
*Algeria: Ministry of Industry and Mi ...
majority government
A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
in the 1959 election. Evans, easily returned, was relieved of the MNR portfolio on August 7, 1959, and named Provincial Secretary on December 21.
Evans was re-elected again in the provincial elections of
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
. He stopped serving as Provincial Secretary on June 12, 1963. On July 22, 1966, was promoted from Industry and Commerce to the high-profile position of
Provincial Treasurer
In Canadian politics the Provincial Treasurer is a senior portfolio in the Executive Council (or cabinet) of provincial governments. The position is the provincial equivalent of the Minister of Finance and is responsible for setting the provinc ...
and Minister of Mines and Natural Resources. Walter Weir retained Evans in these positions when he replaced Roblin as Premier in 1967. As Treasurer, Evans suggested separating capital from operating in the budget.
The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1969 provincial election, and Evans lost his seat to
Cy Gonick
Cy Gonick (born April 8, 1936) is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1973, sitting as a member of the New Democratic Party.
Gonick was born in Winnipeg to Louis Gonick an ...
Crescentwood
Crescentwood is a former electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created in 1969, abolished in 1979, re-established in 1989, and abolished again in 1999.
The Crescentwood riding was located in Winnipeg's south-central re ...
. He did not seek a return to provincial office after this time.