Peter Burtniak (March 26, 1925 in Fork River,

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 ...

– April 8, 2004) was 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 New Democratic 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 1969 to 1977, and served as 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

Edward Schreyer Edward Richard Schreyer (born December 21, 1935) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation. Schreyer was born and educated in Manitoba, and was first electe ...

. The son of Fred Burtniak and Pearl Kalinchuk, Burtniak was educated in the Manitoba school system, and worked as a farm implement dealer and farmer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the Fort Garry Horse Active Reserve Army Corps. He was President of the Fork River Branch of the Manitoba Pool Elevators for twenty years, and served as Provincial Director of the Manitoba Farmers Union from 1952 to 1956. He was also a board member of the Manitoba Federation of Agriculture from 1954 to 1956. He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1958 as a candidate of the CCF in Ethelbert Plains, but lost to

Liberal-Progressive Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...

incumbent Michael Hryhorczuk by 981 votes. He ran for the same riding in the 1959 election, this time losing to Hryhorczuk by 266 votes. Burtniak backed Edward Schreyer for the provincial NDP leadership in 1969, and gave the nomination speech for Schreyer at the party's

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

. He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1969 election, defeating former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Stewart McLean by 41 votes in Dauphin. He NDP formed 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 this election, and Burtniak was appointed Minister of Tourism and Recreation on July 15, 1969. He was also given responsibility for the Manitoba Telephone System on August 4, 1970, and was given the second portfolio of Minister of Cultural Affairs on November 4, 1970. After a cabinet shuffle on December 1, 1971, he was named

Minister of Highways Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, retaining responsibility for the MTS. Burtniak defeated Tory candidate Art Rampton by 999 votes in the 1973 election, and was retained as Highways Minister in the Schreyer government's second term. He was also given responsibility for the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation on September 22, 1976. The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1977, and Burtniak narrowly lost his seat to Tory candidate James Galbraith. He did not seek a return to politics after this time. He served as Vice-Chairman of the Manitoba Transport Board from 1982 to 1988. Burtniak died in

Seven Oaks General Hospital Seven Oaks General Hospital (SOGH) is a community hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was founded in 1981 by community leaders and approved by the province of Manitoba to serve the needs of the northern part of Winnipeg and surrounding a ...

in Winnipeg at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burtniak, Peter 1925 births 2004 deaths New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba