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
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 ...
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 ...
in the government of
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 1999.
The son of Marshall F. Findlay and Verna B. Cochrane, he was born in Shoal Lake, Manitoba, and 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.University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
. He worked as a farmer on his family's 5,000 acre beef farm after returning to the province, and was a professor in the Faculty of Agriculture 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.provincial election of 1986, easily winning the rural riding of Virden as a Progressive Conservative. The election was narrowly won by the
Howard Pawley
Howard Russell Pawley (November 21, 1934 – December 30, 2015) was a Canadian politician and professor who was the 18th premier of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988. Prior to his premiership, Pawley served in various ministerial positions after his t ...
, and Findlay joined 25 other Conservatives in the official opposition.
The Pawley government fell in 1988, when disgruntled backbencher
Jim Walding
Derek James Walding (May 9, 1937 – April 23, 2007) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1971 to 1988 and served as speaker of the assembly from 1982 to 1986. Walding was a member of ...
voted against his own government. Findlay was re-elected without difficulty in the general election which followed, and was appointed
Minister of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
with responsibility for the
Manitoba Telephone System
Bell MTS Inc. (formerly Manitoba Telecom Services) is a subsidiary of BCE Inc. that operates telecommunications services in Manitoba.
Originally established as Manitoba Government Telephones after the Government of Manitoba purchased the Manito ...
on May 9, 1988.
The Virden riding was eliminated by redistribution in the 1990 election and Findlay ran in the riding of
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, where he defeated NDP candidate Deborah Barron-McNabb by almost 2,000 votes. He endorsed
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House of ...
's bid to lead the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
in June 1993.
On September 10, 1993, he was named Minister of Highways and Transportation, retaining responsibility for the provincial telephone system. He was re-elected in the provincial election of 1995, again defeating his NDP opponent by about 2000 votes. In 1996, Findlay was responsible for coordinating the government's highly controversial decision to sell the MTS.
Findlay left cabinet on February 5, 1999, and did not seek re-election later in the year. In 2000, he was appointed to a federal panel reviewing the Canada Transportation Act. In 2006, he was appointed by the federal government to the board of directors of the