Gerald Ducharme (born March 21, 1939 in

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 ...

) 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,

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. He was a 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 1986 to 1995, 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 Progressive Conservative

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Gary Filmon Gary Albert Filmon (born August 24, 1942) is Canadian politician from Manitoba. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as the 19th premier of Manitoba from 1988 to 1999. Political care ...

from 1988 to 1995. The son of Jean Louis Ducharme and Mackalena Andreychuk, he was educated in St. Vital and 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.alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in Winnipeg from 1980 to 1986. He married Yvonne Normandeau in 1963. Ducharme was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election, defeating incumbent

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...

Doreen Dodick in the south-end Winnipeg seat of

Riel Riel may refer to: Places * Riel, Netherlands, a town in the Netherlands *Riel (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, named after Louis Riel * Riel, Winnipeg, a community committee comprising three city wards Pe ...

. The NDP won the election, and Ducharme sat in the opposition benches for the next two years. The NDP were unexpectedly defeated in the legislature in 1988, and the Progressive Conservatives managed to form 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 the election which followed. Ducharme faced a difficult challenge from

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, winning by only 324 votes (the Liberals made strong inroads into both Tory and NDP ridings in this cycle). On May 9, 1988, Ducharme was appointed

Manitoba Minister of Urban Affairs , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

and

Manitoba Minister of Housing 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 ...

. Liberal support declined in the provincial election of 1990, and Ducharme was re-elected in Riel with an increased majority. Following a cabinet shuffle on February 5, 1991, he was named

Manitoba Minister of Government Services Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure () is the provincial government department responsible for managing infrastructure in Manitoba. It is in charge of "the development of transportation policy and legislation, and fthe management of the pr ...

, responsible for Seniors. Ducharme resigned from cabinet on March 20, 1995, and was not a candidate in the subsequent election. He has not run for provincial or federal office since this time. In 1998, Ducharme was made Chairman of the Manitoba Municipal Board. He stepped down from this position in 2000, shortly after the NDP under

Gary Doer Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016. Doer previously served as the 20th p ...

were returned to power.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ducharme, Gerry Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs 1939 births Living people Franco-Manitoban people Politicians from Winnipeg Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba