Dennis Heeney was 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 ...

politician. In the provincial elections of 1986 and 1988, he was the leader of the province's

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 ...

, a group that opposed the extension of French-language rights and sought greater autonomy for western

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 ...

(unlike the

Western Canada Concept The Western Canada Concept was a Western Canada, Western Canadian federal political party founded in 1980 to promote the separation of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories ...

and

Western Independence Party The Western Independence Party (WIP) was a Canadian political party that advocated the separation of Western Canada from Canada to form a new country from the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and the Yukon and N ...

, it did not seek full independence for the western provinces). Heeney was serving as the reeve of the

Rural Municipality of Elton Elton is a rural municipality in the Canadian province of Manitoba, located to the north of the city of Brandon. The community was incorporated in 1883, and its first officials took office the following year. Its population in 2001 was 1,321.

in 1983 when he became active in a provincial controversy over the entrenchment of francophone services. Hebert p205 At the time,

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

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 ...

was attempting to reintroduce French-language services into the province's parliament and legal system. Heeney spoke out against the initiative at a public meeting in

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

, claiming that it would effectively amount to granting special privileges for only 6% of Manitoba's population. Heeney subsequently became involved in

Manitoba Grassroots , 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 ...

, Hebert p205 an anti-bilingualism coalition led by renegade NDP backbencher

Russell Doern Russell John "Russ" Doern (October 20, 1935 – February 19, 1987) was a Manitoba politician. He served as a cabinet minister in the New Democratic government of Edward Schreyer (1969–1977), but left the New Democratic Party in 1984. He was ...

. In February 1984, he led a protest outside a Brandon NDP convention. Later in the year, Heeney ran as a candidate for the national

in the federal riding of Brandon-Souris. He received 6322 votes, finishing second to Progressive Conservative candidate Lee Clark (who received 18,813 votes).Morgan, Richard (5 September 1984)
Second place a 'victory' for COR candidates
''

Brandon Sun ''The Brandon Sun'' is a Monday through Saturday newspaper printed in Brandon, Manitoba. It is the primary newspaper of record for western Manitoba and includes substantial political, crime, business and sports news. ''The Brandon Sun'' also pub ...

'' (pay archive link) A provincial CoR party was also founded in 1984, and Heeney replaced

Douglas Edmondson {{Unreferenced, date=November 2008 The Manitoba Reform Party was a right-wing political party in Manitoba, Canada in the early 1990s. It was known as the Manitoba Confederation of Regions Party (CoR) in the provincial elections of 1986, 1988 and 199 ...

as its leader shortly thereafter. The party ran fifteen candidates in the provincial election of 1986, placing second in four rural, anglophone ridings. Heeney, running in the riding of Minnedosa, received 1508 votes for a third-place finish. Although this result was fairly respectable for a newly formed party, it disappointed many CoR supporters who hoped that at least a few of their candidates would be elected. The party declined in status, and became marginalized after the bilingualism controversy died down. Heeney continued to lead the party into the election of 1988. The Manitoba CoR fielded fourteen candidates, although none came close to being elected. Heeney, running again in Minnedosa, received 820 votes for a fourth-place finish. Heeney appears to have resigned as Manitoba CoR leader soon after the election. He returned to municipal politics, and served as reeve of Elton from 1978 to 2001. Heeney died on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at the age of 73 years.(17 November 2006). Obituary, ''

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heeney, Dennis Manitoba Reform Party candidates in Manitoba provincial elections Mayors of places in Manitoba 2006 deaths Year of birth missing