Reginald Frederick Wightman (May 28, 1899 – January 23, 1981) was a politician in Manitoba,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He served in 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 gen ...

as a

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 ...

from 1949 to 1958. Wightman was born in Nesbitt,

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 educated at Manitoba University, which later became 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.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, ...

area. He began his political career at the municipal level, serving as chair of the St. James School Board for four years, and as a councillor for six years. Wightman became

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of St. James in 1945, and continued to serve as the mayor of the suburb even after his election to the provincial legislature. In 1928, he married Alice Maud Thring. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1949 provincial election, defeating incumbent

Cooperative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialistThe follo ...

MLA Ernest R. Draffin by 1,214 votes in the constituency of

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. He was re-elected in the 1953 election, defeating CCF challenger

Alvin Mackling Alvin "Al" Mackling (born December 31, 1927) is a longtime Canadian Democratic Socialist and a retired lawyer. He was an alderman in the former city of St. James from 1961 to 1969 and was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 19 ...

by 281 votes. Wightman was a backbench supporter of Douglas Campbell's government during his time in the legislature. The Liberal-Progressives lost power following the 1958 provincial election, following a large-scale electoral redistribution. Wightman was defeated in the redistributed constituency of St. James, losing to Progressive Conservative Douglas Stanes by 476 votes. Wightman returned to municipal politics after his provincial defeat. In 1969, he became the first finance committee chair of the new city of St. James–Assiniboia.''Winnipeg Free Press'', 8 January 1969, p. 12. He died in Winnipeg at the age of 81. His son, Reginald C. Wightman, is also a public figure in Winnipeg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wightman, Reginald 1899 births 1981 deaths Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs