Roland Penner (July 30, 1924 – May 31, 2018) was a political activist and lawyer who became a cabinet minister in the

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 ...

provincial government and dean of law at 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.

Education and early career

Penner was born in

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 ...

, Manitoba, the son of

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

Jacob Penner Jacob Penner (August 12, 1880 – August 28, 1965) was a popular international socialist politician in Canada. A founder of the Social Democratic Party of Canada and the Communist Party of Canada, Penner was elected to the Winnipeg city counci ...

(d. 1965) and Rose Shapack (d. 1970). His father was from a Mennonite background, and his mother was Jewish. He served in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the Canadian

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

. At the end of the war, he earned credits at the Khaki University of Canada. He continued his education at 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.Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1949 and an LL.B. in 1961. He began working at the University of Manitoba in 1967, and became a professor in 1972. From 1972 to 1978, he was the president of Legal Aid Manitoba, and from 1979 to 1980, he was president of the

Canadian Association of University Teachers The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT; french: Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d'université, ACPPU) is a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing approximately 70,000 teachers, l ...

. In 1949, he married Adeline ("Addie") Wdoviak, and in 1982, he married Janet Kay Baldwin.

Political career

Penner's parents and his older brother Norman were active in the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

Labor-Progressive Party. In the federal election of 1953, he ran as a candidate of the party in the predominantly middle-class riding of Winnipeg South Centre. He finished a poor fourth with only 504 votes. He also ran as an LPP candidate for school trustee in the Winnipeg municipal election of 1953. Penner left the Labour-Progressive Party in 1961, part of a mass exodus in the years following the

Soviet invasion of Hungary The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

and

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

secret speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" (russian: «О культе личности и его последствиях», «''O kul'te lichnosti i yego posledstviyakh''»), popularly known as the "Secret Speech" (russian: секре ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

's crimes. His brother Norman had left in 1957, while his father Jacob remained a party member. Penner completed law school and practised criminal law for several years before becoming a law professor. In 1980, he announced that he would seek the nomination of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

in the riding of St. Johns in the 1981 election. There was some speculation that Penner's communist past would damage his political ambitions, especially as Winnipeg alderman Joe Zuken had lost a mayoral election the previous year when his communist politics became an issue. Penner rejected this suggestion, however, saying, "There's a fundamental difference between Joe and myself in that I'm not a member of the Communist Party. I'm a member of the NDP. ..I was a member of the Communist Party at one time, but that's ancient history. That was twenty years ago. It may be raised but it's not relevant. It would ignore what I've been doing the last two decades." He later chose not to run in St. Johns, and sought another riding. The party wanted him to run against

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

leader Sid Green in the riding of Inkster. He declined and ran instead in Fort Rouge, where he defeated incumbent

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 ...

June Westbury June Westbury (July 26, 1921 – February 11, 2004) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1979 to 1981, sitting as a Liberal. Westbury was born, in Hamilton, New Zealand. The daughter ...

. On November 30, 1981,

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 ...

Howard Pawley Howard Russell Pawley (November 21, 1934 – December 30, 2015) was a Canadian politician and professor who was the 18th premier of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988. Prior to his premiership, Pawley served in various ministerial positions after his t ...

appointed Penner to be Government

House Leader {{Politics of Canada In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...

, chair of the Treasury Board, and

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. He was also given ministerial responsibility for the Liquor Control Act on March 4, 1982, and stood down as Treasury Board Chair on July 28 of the same year. On November 4, 1983, he stood down as house leader and received the additional portfolio of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. Penner was easily re-elected in the 1986 election. He was retained as attorney general and given responsibility for Constitutional Affairs and the Liquor Control Act. Following a cabinet shuffle on September 21, 1987, Penner was named Minister of Education, while retaining responsibility for constitutional matters. The New Democratic Party experienced a significant decline in its popularity between 1986 and 1988, and Penner lost his seat to Liberal challenger

Jim Carr James Gordon Carr (October 11, 1951 – December 12, 2022) was a Canadian politician, cabinet minister, journalist, and professional oboist. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as the member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre from 20 ...

in the 1988 provincial election. As attorney-general, Penner introduced Manitoba's first

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

legislation. He also introduced

freedom of information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigeno ...

legislation and was responsible for implementing legislation requiring

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

services after the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

ruled that the province was violating its constitutional obligations. (The latter action resulted in a backlash in some parts of the province, leading to the rise of anti-bilingualism groups such as the

Confederation of Regions Party The Confederation of Regions Party (CoR) was a right-wing politics, right-wing federal list of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada founded in 1984 by Elmer Knutson. It was founded as a successor to the Western Canada Federation ...

.) As minister responsible for constitutional affairs, Penner also participated in negotiations for what became the

Meech Lake Accord The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gove ...

. Although he supported

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

rights, Penner was required to uphold a decision by the Manitoba courts which prevented

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler, (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

from opening a private clinic in the province. Penner was also an early champion of including

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

in Canada's human rights code. Because of his background in communist politics, Penner was for many years forbidden from entering the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

under the

McCarran-Walter Act The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. Before ...

. Special provisions had to be made allowing him to enter America 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’, � ...

After politics

Following his loss, Penner returned to teaching at the University of Manitoba. He taught courses in constitutional law, criminal law, labour law, evidence, and the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

. He served as a University Dean between 1989 and 1994. He wrote several works, including a number on the privacy rights of Canadians. In 1993, he openly questioned the attempts of

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

government in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

to restrict tenure to professors deemed to hold socially unacceptable views. He retired from teaching in 2009. In 2010, it was revealed that Penner's name was on a secret list of Communist sympathizers kept during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

; these persons were to be watched by the RCMP and could have been detained at internment camps in the event of a national security crisis. In 2007, Penner published ''A Glowing Dream: A Memoir'' (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing, 2007). In 2011, he co-wrote ''They Shoot Doctors Don't They: A Memoir'' with Jack Fainman.

Honours

In 2000, he was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 2014, he was made a member of the

Order of Manitoba The Order of Manitoba (french: Ordre du Manitoba) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Instituted in 1999 when Lieutenant Governor Peter Liba granted Royal Assent to The Order of Manitoba Act, the order is administe ...

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penner, Roland 1924 births 2018 deaths Canadian people of German descent Canadian military personnel of World War II Canadian socialists Labor-Progressive Party candidates in the 1953 Canadian federal election Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Manitoba New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Politicians from Winnipeg Canadian Mennonites