Victor Harold Schroeder (born February 16, 1944 to a
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
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 ...
) is 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
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 ...
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’, â ...
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 ...
from 1981 to 1988.
Education
The son of Henry Schroeder and Anna Braun, he was educated at Mennonite Collegiate Institute
Gretna, Manitoba
Gretna is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Rhineland within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. Just north of the Canada - United States border on PTH 30, Gretna had a populati ...
, the
University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...
and 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.
Career
He worked as a lawyer before entering public life, and was a member of the Manitoba Securities Commission as well as serving as a Vice-Chairman of the Manitoba Public Utilities Board. He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in a 1972
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in 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 ...
Izzy Asper
Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper (August 11, 1932– October 7, 2003) was a Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate. He was the founder and owner of the now-defunct TV and media company CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CEO and ...
. In 1967, he married Leona Esther Thiesson.
Schroeder contested another by-election in 1979, this time in the north-end Winnipeg riding of
Rossmere
Rossmere is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1968, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1969. The riding is located in the northeastern section of th ...
, recently vacated by former
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 ...
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 election was surprisingly close, with Schroeder defeating Progressive Conservative Harold Piercy by only 230 votes. Following his victory, Schroeder supported Howard Pawley's successful bid to become party leader. He was re-elected by a greater margin in the provincial election of 1981.
The NDP formed a majority government following this election, and Schroeder was appointed
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
Civil Service Commission
A civil service commission is a government agency that is constituted by legislature to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, oversee hiring and promotions, and promote the values of the public service. Its role is rou ...
and Civil Service Superannuation Board and the administration of Pension Benefits Act and Public Servants Insurance Act. On July 19, 1982, he was relieved of all cabinet responsibilities except for the Finance portfolio.
Other jobs
While retaining Finance, he also served as Chairman of the Treasury Board from July 28, 1982, to November 4, 1983, and as minister responsible for Manitoba Data Services from August 20, 1982, to November 4, 1983. On November 4, 1983, he was named Minister of Crown Investments and given responsibility for the Civil Service a second time. On January 5, 1984, he was also given responsibility for the Manitoba Development Corporation Act. He was relieved of his Civil Service responsibilities on January 30, 1985.
Manitoba Hydro
The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, operating as Manitoba Hydro, is the electric power and natural gas utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1961, it is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Boa ...
. On February 4, 1987, he was relieved of the Crown Investments portfolio and given responsibility for the
Manitoba Development Corporation
, 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 ...
. Finally, on September 21, 1987, he was given the additional portfolio of
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 ...
.
The NDP were unexpectedly defeated in the legislature in 1988, and Schroeder lost to Neufeld by 526 votes in the election which followed.
Career after politics
Schroeder was appointed as the Chair of Manitoba Hydro in 2000, by the NDP government of
Gary Doer
Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016. Doer previously served as the 20th p ...
. During his time as chairman,
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
was incorporated into the utility's power production. Shroeder retired as chairman in February 2012.