George Reginald Provost (August 11, 1936 - July 17, 2002) was a businessman and city councillor in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served on

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

from 1977 to 1980, and later sought election to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

Councillor

Provost was a publisher, consultant and entrepreneur in private life. He served on the old St. Boniface City Council from 1964 to 1967, before the city was amalgamated into Winnipeg. He later sought re-election to the council in a 1970 by-election, but lost to rival candidate Michael Dennehy. He was elected to Winnipeg City Council in the 1977 municipal election as an independent candidate, defeating incumbent councillor

Ed Kotowich Edward Joseph Albert Kotowich (May 31, 1934 – December 11, 1986) was a Canadian football player who played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He won the Grey Cup with them in 1958, 1959 and 1961. He died of a stroke in 1986, aged 52. He earned the ...

from the centre-right Independent Citizens' Election Committee (ICEC) in the Langevin ward. During a March 1978 debate on bus fares, Provost said that he would oppose any fare increase for senior citizens. He later voted with the majority on council to introduce bilingual English and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

signs to Winnipeg. When confronting local opposition to this initiative, Provost said that there were many anti-French bigots in the city. He was defeated for re-election in the 1980 municipal campaign, finishing third against independent candidate

Evelyne Reese Evelyne Reese is a retired politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She served on the Winnipeg City Council for fifteen years, and ran for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba on two occasions as a candidate of the Liberal Party. Reese was first ...

. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' newspaper indicates that he lost public support after railing against what he believed were fire hazards in municipal hospitals, even after an investigation concluded that he was mistaken.

Later life

Provost later served as general manager of the Manitoba division of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, and was appointed executive director and secretary treasurer of the Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba Inc. in 1997. He also started a company called Showtime Marketing Services Ltd., and produced a series of novelty Manitoba license plates in 1994 to commemorate the province's 125th anniversary the following year. Provost ran as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in the 1981 provincial election, and finished a distant second against

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

Gerard Lecuyer Gerard Lecuyer (born August 2, 1936 in Saint Boniface, Manitoba) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988, and a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party government of Ho ...

Radisson Radisson Hotels is an international hotel chain headquartered in the United States. A division of the Radisson Hotel Group, it operates the brands Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson Collection, Country Inn & Suites, and Park Inn by Radisso ...

. He sought re-election to city council in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

but finished third against Evelyne Reese both times. He was a candidate for the St. Boniface ward in the 1995 municipal election, but withdrew from the campaign before election day. He ran again in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, and finished third against incumbent councillor Dan Vandal. During this election, he identified property taxes as the most important issue facing the ward. Provost ran for a seat on the St. Boniface School Board in a 1999 by-election, and finished second against Tricia Barnabe. He ran for another seat on the same board in a further by-election in 2000, and finished fourth against Laura Reimer. He died on July 17, 2002, at age 65.Kevin Rollason, "They will never be forgotten", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 31 December 2002, A8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provost, George 2002 deaths Winnipeg city councillors 1936 births