Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1953)

Link to:
Provincial General Election (1949) | Provincial General Election (1958) | All Provincial Elections

The Manitoba general election of 1953 was held on 8 June, with two constituencies (Rupertsland, Ste. Rose) deferred to 6 July. The results were as follows:

Party	Leader	Votes	Seats
Liberal-Progressive	Douglas Lloyd Campbell (1895-1995)	105,958	32
Progressive Conservative	Errick French Willis (1896-1967)	56,278	12
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Lloyd Cleworth Stinson (1904-1976)	44,332	5
Social Credit	?	35,750	2
Independent Liberal	-	11,929	3
Independent	-	9,577	2
Labour Progressive (Communist)	William Cecil Ross (1911-1998)	3,812	1
Totals		267,636	57

The voting results for individual constituencies, the last election in Manitoba where proportional voting was used, were as follows:

Constituency	Returning Officer	Candidate	Party	Votes
Arthur	William Sterling	James Arthur Ross (1893-1958)	Progressive Conservative	1,920
		John Robertson Pitt (1885-1970)	Liberal-Progressive	1,440
Assiniboia	William A. Bathie	Reginald Frederick Wightman (1899-1981)	Liberal-Progressive	4,196
		Alvin Henry Mackling	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	3,846
		George Edmund Fournier	Progressive Conservative	1,646
		Florence May Bloomfield	Social Credit	677
Birtle	John Stalker	Francis Campbell “Frank” Bell (1892-1968)	Liberal-Progressive	2,148
		Francis Macdonald Manwaring	Progressive Conservative	957
Brandon City	Bernard Raymond Coleman (1915-1993)	Reginald Otto Lissaman (1908-1974)	Progressive Conservative	3,800
		James Albert “Jimmy” Creighton (1905-1990)	Liberal-Progressive	3,217
		William Alex Wyborn	Social Credit	1,054
Carillon	Jacob E. Regehr	Edmond Prefontaine (1897-1971)	Liberal-Progressive	3,278
		Klaas T. Kroeker	Social Credit	1,065
Cypress	Hector A. McLeod	Francis Milton Ferg (1889-1960)	Liberal-Progressive	1,932
		Roderick George Hurton	Progressive Conservative	1,371
		Marcel Philippe	Social Credit	950
Dauphin	Vernon H. Rampton	William Lewis Bullmore (1912-1972)	Social Credit	2,534
		John Potoski (1903-1983)	Liberal-Progressive	1,844
		Ernest Newburn McGirr (1887-1982)	Progressive Conservative	1,313
		Frank Fullbrook	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	78
Deloraine-Glenwood	A. Earl Draper	James Oswald Argue (1888-1955)	Progressive Conservative	1,862
		Robert Elmer “Bob” Moffat (1916-2002)	Liberal-Progressive	1,594
Dufferin	Clarence William Orchard	Walter Clifton McDonald (1903-1999)	Liberal-Progressive	2,195
		George Loeppky	Social Credit	1,676
		Earl Thompson Collins (1895-1958)	Progressive Conservative	936
Emerson	Lloyd Oatway Baskerville	John Roman Solomon (1910-1985)	Independent Liberal	2,355
		Frank Casper	Liberal-Progressive	2,234
		George J. Friesen	Social Credit	220
Ethelbert	William Ploshynsky	Michael Nicholas Hryhorczuk (1905-1978)	Liberal-Progressive	1,948
		Heller Basaraba	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,368
		John L. Solomon	Progressive Conservative	276
		Henry Dyck	Social Credit	225
Fairford	Arni Johnson	James Frederick Anderson (1903-1983)	Liberal-Progressive	1,088
		Fred George Cook	Social Credit	699
		Daniel McFadyen	Progressive Conservative	310
		John Angus McDonald	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	249
Fisher	William Hryciuk	Nicolas Volodymir Bachynsky (1887-1969)	Liberal-Progressive	1,554
		Leon William Michalchuk	Independent	705
		Mrs. Elsie Lyon	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	211
		David Heindrichs	Social Credit	144
Gilbert Plains	James Garfield Vance (1874-1965)	Raymond “Ray” Mitchell (1897-1984)	Liberal-Progressive	1,308
		Robert J. Wilson	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,211
		Everett Percival Brown (1904-?)	Social Credit	740
		Burdette Elliott	Progressive Conservative	380
Gimli	Valdimar Stefanson (1889-1981)	Steinn Olafur Thompson (1893-1972)	Liberal-Progressive	2,252
		Elmer Henry Fitch	Social Credit	867
		John Firman	Independent Liberal	194
Gladstone	Joseph F. Rogers	William Morton (1884-1958)	Liberal-Progressive	Acclaim
Hamiota	Thomas A. Gray	Charles Lemington “Lem” Shuttleworth (1910-2006)	Liberal-Progressive	1,687
		Edward Terry Venables	Progressive Conservative	1,315
		Fred Charles	Social Credit	525
Iberville	Orris Aquin	John McDowell (1894-1980)	Progressive Conservative	1,637
		C. Henry Jarvis	Liberal-Progressive	1,454
		Jan K. “John” Hilgenga (1906-1992)	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	717
		Cornelius F. Rempel	Social Credit	374
Kildonan-Transcona	Vivian M. Snow	Andrew Russell “Russ” Paulley (1909-1984)	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	6,052
		John Leslie Bodie (1909-1997)	Liberal-Progressive	4,566
		Lorne G. Carson	Social Credit	1,209
		Steve Melnyk	Independent	820
Killarney	Gordon H. Melvin	Abram William Harrison (1898-1979)	Progressive Conservative	1,981
		Clifford William Landerkin (1898-1969)	Liberal-Progressive	1,427
		George Glen Paterson	Social Credit	666
Lakeside	George Stanley Blight	Douglas Lloyd Campbell (1895-1995)	Liberal-Progressive	2,290
		James William Lee Tulley	Social Credit	786
		Charles Harold Spence (1925-1987)	Progressive Conservative	662
		Hazel Christina Allan (1916-2004)	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	342
Lansdowne	Thomas B. Campbell	Matthew Robinson Sutherland (1893-1971)	Liberal-Progressive	2,160
		Thomas Henry Seens (1895-1989)	Progressive Conservative	1,787
		Roy W. Doherty	Social Credit	709
La Verendrye	Frank Grossman	Joseph Edmond Brodeur (1898-1988)	Liberal-Progressive	2,203
		Damase Dufresne	Social Credit	1,576
Manitou-Morden	Walter S. Goode	Hugh Borthwick Morrison (1892-1957)	Progressive Conservative	1,749
		Charles D. McLean	Liberal-Progressive	1,161
		Albert O'Donnell	Social Credit	758
Minnedosa	Thomas Herbert Murton	Gilbert Alexander Eugene “Bunty” Hutton (1908-1995)	Social Credit	1,688
		Henry Smalley Rungay (1888-1955)	Liberal-Progressive	1,572
		John Anthony Burgess	Progressive Conservative	1,047
Morris	Norman Harold Grills (1895-1968)	Harold Proctor “Harry” Shewman (1900-1968)	Independent	1,960
		Arthur S. Beaubien	Liberal-Progressive	1,249
		Wilbert James Tinkler (1908-1988)	Social Credit	844
Mountain	Romeo Decosse	Ivan Schultz (1891-1974)	Liberal-Progressive	1,851
		Dollard Eustache Lafreniere	Social Credit	894
		John Argyle Mabon	Independent	399
Norfolk-Beautiful Plains	Lloyd Baker	Samuel Edward Burch (1889-1974)	Liberal-Progressive	2,390
		Charles John McKinnon	Social Credit	1,737
		Harold Alexander Nelson	Progressive Conservative	1,365
Portage la Prairie	Robert H. Stewart	Charles Edwin Greenlay (1899-1984)	Liberal-Progressive	1,747
		William Charles “Bill” Warren (1917-1958)	Progressive Conservative	1,529
		Bernard H. Rempel	Social Credit	784
Rhineland	Abram D. Friesen	Wallace Conrad “Wally” Miller (1896-1959)	Liberal-Progressive	1,608
		Victor Peters	Social Credit	964
		Leo Arthur Recksiedler	Progressive Conservative	565
Roblin	Leslie J. Spear	Ronald Douglas Robertson (1920-1998)	Liberal-Progressive	1,474
		Joseph Perchaluk	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	866
		Earl Daniel McIntyre	Social Credit	366
		Fred Eber Cowan	Progressive Conservative	227
Rockwood	Alfred Edgar Clarke	Robert William “Bobby” Bend (1914-1999)	Independent Liberal	1,952
		Henry Gratton “Gin” Langrell (1893-1979)	Progressive Conservative	656
		Charles E. Toutant	Social Credit	389
Ruperts Land (held on 6 July)	Oswald L. Quesnel	Francis Roy Brown (1896-1960)	Liberal-Progressive	1,138
		Harry Boulette	Independent Liberal	1,001
		Charles Leo Abbott	Independent	186
Russell	George A. Allen	Rodney Stewart “Rod” Clement (1919-1969)	Independent Liberal	2,033
		Michael John Sotas	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,322
		Keith Porter	Progressive Conservative	846
		Charles Russell Beswatherick	Social Credit	152
St. Andrews	John C. McMillan	Thomas Paterson Hillhouse (1896-1991)	Liberal-Progressive	2,938
		Keith Hedley Robson	Progressive Conservative	1,366
		Ernest Richard Draffin (1909-1982)	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	838
St. Boniface (* elected)	David D. Brown	Roger Joseph Teillet (1912-2002) *	Liberal-Progressive	6,220
		Leslie Raymond “Ray” Fennell (1893-1986) *	Liberal-Progressive	4,886
		David Turner	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	4,497
		Joseph Gustave Van Belleghem (1901-1967)	Independent Liberal	3,932
		Raymond Hughes	Progressive Conservative	2,568
		Antonio Lemoine	Social Credit	1,537
		Mrs. Kay E. MacKinnon	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,329
		Louis Leger	Progressive Conservative	737
St. Clements	Stanley Trombo	Stanley Copp (1914-1987)	Liberal-Progressive	2,821
		Edgar E. Smee	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,358
		Osborne A. Earle	Social Credit	935
		Walter Hudson Whyte (1919-1998)	Progressive Conservative	371
St. George	Helgi Thorvaldson	Christian Halldorson (1891-1956)	Liberal-Progressive	1,695
		Rev. Ernest H. Hartfield	Social Credit	321
Ste. Rose (held on 6 July)	Basil Travers Tucker (?-1962)	Gildas Laurent “Gil” Molgat (1927-2001)	Liberal-Progressive	1,561
		James Albert Fletcher	Independent Liberal	1,166
		Antoine Pineau	Social Credit	341
Springfield	Walter Novak	William Lucko (1911-1998)	Liberal-Progressive	1,965
		William Gerhardt “Bill” Storsley (1915-2005)	Social Credit	1,571
		Albert Hugh Watt	Progressive Conservative	654
Swan River	George W. Russenholt	George Poddester Renouf (1879-1961)	Progressive Conservative	2,428
		Delbert LeRoy Downs	Social Credit	1,535
		Stephen Einarson	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	776
		George Edward Scalf	Independent	184
The Pas	Martin Solstad	Francis Laurence “Bud” Jobin (1914-1995)	Liberal-Progressive	4,875
		William Henry Calvert	Social Credit	1,668
		Walter Arthur Thompson	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,526
Turtle Mountain	Earl Fleming	Errick French Willis (1896-1967)	Progressive Conservative	1,777
		Charles Clinton Gorrie (1885-1968)	Liberal-Progressive	883
		Vance A. Ferguson	Social Credit	507
Virden	Donald Whiteford	John William McLeod Thompson (1908-1986)	Progressive Conservative	2,182
		Gordon Alexander Mooney	Liberal-Progressive	1,621
Winnipeg Centre (* elected)	Lillian Margaret Travers Hallonquist (1901-1985)	Jack St. John (1906-1965) *	Liberal-Progressive	5,119
		Donovan Swailes (1892-1984) *	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	4,204
		Stephen H. “Steve” Juba (1914-1993) *	Independent	4,172
		Henry Baird “Hank” Scott (1898-1972) *	Progressive Conservative	3,108
		Lewis St. George Stubbs (1878-1958)	Independent	2,556
		Anne Ethel “Nan” Murphy (1902-1990)	Liberal-Progressive	1,991
		Gordon Richard Fines (1911-1990)	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,339
		Percival W. Brown	Social Credit	1,132
		David Graham	Liberal-Progressive	879
		Gisli S. Borgford	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	558
		Joseph Stepnuk	Progressive Conservative	489
		Emil A. Johnson	Social Credit	445
		Patrick J. Mulgrew	Social Credit	286
		Edward L. Colson	Independent	63
Winnipeg North (* elected)	Walter J. Burke	John Martin Hawryluk (1910-1975) *	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	4,783
		Morris Abraham Gray (1887-1966) *	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	4,642
		William Arthur “Bill” Kardash (1912-1997) *	Labour Progressive (Communist)	4,271
		Alexander Turk (1906-1988) *	Liberal-Progressive	3,134
		John Michael “Big John” Kozoriz (1917-2006)	Liberal-Progressive	3,082
		Stanley Mirus “Stan” Carrick (1911-1982)	Progressive Conservative	2,373
		Ernest A. Brotman (1899-1986)	Independent Liberal	2,042
		Leonard Aylen	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,325
		John J. Kelsch	Liberal-Progressive	1,282
		Nicholas Halas	Social Credit	928
		John Yuzyk	Independent	139
Winnipeg South (* elected)	C. Frederick David	Ronald David Turner (1915-1965) *	Liberal-Progressive	8,007
		Edward Gurney Vaux Evans (1907-1987) *	Progressive Conservative	6,197
		Charles Dufferin “Duff” Roblin (1917-2010) *	Progressive Conservative	6,045
		Lloyd Cleworth Stinson (1904-1976) *	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	5,972
		George Peterkin MacLeod (1893-1961)	Liberal-Progressive	3,889
		Jane Dagg McGovern “Maude” McCreery (1890-1983)	Progressive Conservative	2,318
		Abraham Montague “Monty” Israels (1904-1973)	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	1,234
		Doreen Benjamin	Social Credit	1,068
		Jemima F. Webster	Social Credit	594

See also:

Events in Manitoba History: Proportional Voting (1920-1957)

Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial By-Elections (1955-1957)

Memorable Manitobans: Members of the Twenty-Fourth Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (1954-1957)

Sources:

“List shows candidates in provincial election,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 May 1953, page 11.

Manitoba Election Records (December 1870 to November 1957, June 1958 to June 1969), Manitoba Legislative Library.

Obituary [Wilbert James Tinkler], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 April 1988, page 69.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 10 December 2024