Jacob M. Froese (November 28, 1917 – June 14, 2003) was a politician in the Canadian province of

Manitoba , 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 ...

. He was the province's only

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

MLA between 1959 and 1973, and was the party's leader for most if not all of the period from 1959 to 1977. The son of Jacob J. Froese and Margaret Enns, Froese was born in

Winkler, Manitoba Winkler is a city in Manitoba, Canada with a population of 13,745, making it the 4th largest city in Manitoba, as of the 2021 Canadian census. It is located in southern Manitoba, surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Stanley, about one hundre ...

to Jacob J. and Margaret (Enns) Froese. His Father was an Old Colony Mennonite Church bishop from 1936 to 1968. He was educated in the local school system and worked as a farmer, also becoming a leading figure in the Winkler Credit Union Society. He married Mary Peters in 1941, and together they had 10 children. Early in his life, he was a Young

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 ...

. Froese was elected to the Manitoba legislature for the riding of

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

in a November 1959

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, defeating a Progressive Conservative candidate by 91 votes. He was re-elected by 33 votes in the 1962 general election, and by greater margins in elections of 1966 and

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. The Social Credit Party of Manitoba was largely moribund in this period, and it never came close to electing a second MLA during Froese's time in the legislature. A popular local figure, Froese was for all intents and purposes an independent parliamentarian. Manitoba politics became increasingly polarized between the New Democratic Party and Progressive Conservative Party during the 1970s. Froese was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Arnold Brown in the 1973 election, and finished a poor fourth in a bid for re-election four years later. He ran as a federal Social Credit candidate in Lisgar in the 1974 Canadian election, but finished fourth in this race as well. In the 1981 provincial election, Froese ran for provincial parliament as a member of the

Progressive Party of Manitoba The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM), an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I. See also * List of political parties in Canad ...

, founded by former NDP cabinet minister Sidney Green. He received only 349 votes, and did not attempt any further political comebacks. Froese died at home in Winkler in 2003. His funeral was held at the Winkler Mennonite Brethren Church, of which he had long been a member.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Froese, Jacob 1917 births 2003 deaths Manitoba Social Credit Party MLAs Canadian Mennonites Canadian people of German-Russian descent People from Winkler, Manitoba Old Colony Mennonites