Paul Edwards (born February 21, 1961) is a

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 ...

politician and lawyer. He served as leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party from 1993 to 1996. Edwards was born in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

and was educated at

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.

and

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

. He later worked as a barrister and solicitor. In 1988, Edwards was elected to 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 ...

for 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 St. James, defeating his closest competitor, Progressive Conservative Jae Eadie, by 579 votes. He joined 19 other Liberals in forming the official opposition to the minority 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. The 1988 election was a landmark for the Manitoba Liberal Party, in that it had previously been reduced to a marginal presence in the province. The unpopularity of Howard Pawley's New Democratic government in 1988 had given the party the support of many centre-left voters, and many believed that the Liberals had a chance to form government in the next election. This did not occur. The New Democratic Party recovered under Gary Doer's leadership, and the Liberals were reduced to only seven seats (out of 57) in the election of 1990. Edwards was re-elected in St. James, this time defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Joanne Thibault by 295 votes. Liberal leader Sharon Carstairs was blamed by many in the party for squandering a chance to form government, and resigned as party leader in 1993. Subsequently, Edwards defeated MLA

Kevin Lamoureux Kevin Lamoureux (born January 22, 1962) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. On November 29, 2010, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the constituency of Winnipeg North in a by-election. He was re-elected during the 2011 ele ...

to become the party's new leader. The Liberals initially appeared to have a reasonable chance of winning the 1995 election, placing a strong second to the Tories in early polls. They ran a poor campaign, however, and the NDP overtook them well before election day. The Liberals fell to three seats in the election of 1995: Lamoureux was re-elected in his constituency of Inkster, as were Neil Gaudry in

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

and Gary Kowalski in The Maples. In another close race in St. James, Edwards lost to New Democratic candidate

MaryAnn Mihychuk MaryAnn Mihychuk (born February 27, 1955) is a Canadian politician from Manitoba. She was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 2015, representing the riding of Kildonan—St. Paul for the Liberal Party of Canada, and served as Min ...

by 166 votes. He announced his resignation as party leader later in the year. He formally resigned in 1996, and subsequently returned to a legal practice. Edwards is married to Anne MacKay. They have four children: Beth, Evan, Wynn and Adam.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Paul 1961 births Living people Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs Members of the United Church of Canada People from Kingston, Ontario Politicians from Winnipeg Trent University alumni