Rodney Stewart Clement (September 30, 1919 – March 9, 1969) 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 ...

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 ...

, Canada. He was a 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 1949 to 1959 and again from 1966 to 1968. Initially elected as an Independent, Clement ended his career as a member of the

Manitoba Liberal Party The Manitoba Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral du Manitoba) is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late 19th century, following the province's creation in 1870. Origins and early development (to 1883) Origina ...

Early life and career

Clement was born in Russell, Manitoba, and educated at Binscarth. He served in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

from 1941 to 1945, saw action in

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 ...

, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) award. He later worked as a farmer, rancher, and automobile and implement dealer. He also remained active as a pilot, and operated the first privately owned

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

in Manitoba. Clement was a member of the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

."Ex-MLA Clement Dies in Hospital", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 11 March 1969, p. 3.

Legislator

Clement was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1949 election for the riding of Russell as an Independent, supporting the coalition government of

Douglas L. Campbell Douglas Lloyd Campbell (May 27, 1895 – April 23, 1995) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the 13th premier of Manitoba from 1948 to 1958. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for 47 years, longer than a ...

. He was re-elected in the 1953 election as an Independent

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 ...

. He was endorsed by the official Liberal-Progressive Party during the election, and promised to affiliate with "some political party" at some point in the next legislative session. Clement eventually became a full member of the Liberal-Progressive Party, and was narrowly re-elected under this party's banner in the 1958 election for the new riding of Birtle-Russell. In the 1959 election, he lost to Progressive Conservative Robert Smellie by 224 votes. He did not contest the 1962 election, but returned to defeat Smellie by 245 votes in the 1966 provincial election. The Progressive Conservatives were returned with a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

provincially, and Clement served as the critic for agriculture in the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

. Clement resigned his seat on June 5, 1968 to contest the federal riding of Marquette for the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

in the

1968 Canadian federal election The 1968 Canadian federal election was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 28th Parliament of Canada. In April 1968, Prime Minister Lester Pearson of the Liberal Party resigned as party leader as a ...

. He was unsuccessful, losing to Progressive Conservative Craig Stewart by over 3,500 votes. Clement died in hospital on March 9, 1969. He was 49 years old.

Electoral record

;Federal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Rod Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs 1919 births 1969 deaths Candidates in the 1968 Canadian federal election Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons