George William Johnson (July 10, 1892 in Stratford,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

– April 26, 1973) was a

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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 ...

, Canada. He served in 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 1959 to 1962, representing the

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 ...

riding of

Assiniboia Assiniboia District refers to two historical districts of Canada's Northwest Territories. The name is taken from the Assiniboine First Nation. Historical usage ''For more information on the history of the provisional districts, see also Distric ...

for the Progressive Conservative Party.

Private life

Johnson was educated in Stratford and moved to the

Neepawa Neepawa is a town in Manitoba, Canada located on the Yellowhead Highway at the intersection with Highway 5. its population was 5,685. Neepawa was incorporated as a town in 1883. It is bordered by the Municipality of North Cypress – Langford and ...

area of Manitoba in 1917 and then to Winnipeg in 1918. He operated a butcher shop until 1929, when he joined

Canada Safeway Safeway (also referred to as Canada Safeway) is a Canadian supermarket chain of 135 full service supermarket stores mostly operating in the western provinces in Canada. It was established in 1929 as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., be ...

. From 1947 to 1950, he worked for Safeway in

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. He retired from Safeway in 1959. Johnson also served on the city council for St. James, the St. James school board and the St. James Chamber of Commerce. He died in Winnipeg at the age of 80.

Political career

He first campaigned for the Manitoba legislature in the 1958 provincial election, but lost to CCF incumbent

Donovan Swailes Donovan Swailes (August 12, 1892 – December 10, 1984) was a Canadian politician and musician in Manitoba. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a member of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation from 1945 to 1959. Swailes was bo ...

by 131 votes in Assiniboia. He ran again in the 1959 election and defeated Swailes by 217 votes, as the Progressive Conservatives won a

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. ...

under

Dufferin Roblin Dufferin "Duff" Roblin, (June 17, 1917 – May 30, 2010) was a Canadian businessman and politician. He served as the 14th premier of Manitoba from 1958 to 1967. Roblin was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the advice of Prime Minister Pierre ...

. Johnson was a backbench supporter of Roblin's government during his time in the legislature. He lost to

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Stephen Patrick Stephen Clifford Patrick (''né'' Patrebka, March 24, 1932 – January 11, 2014) was a Canadian politician and athlete. Patrick was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1962 to 1977. Career Patrick played with the Wi ...

by 239 votes in the 1962 provincial election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, George William Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs People from Stratford, Ontario 1892 births 1973 deaths Manitoba municipal councillors