Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1977)

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Provincial General Election (1973) | Provincial General Election (1981) | All Provincial Elections

The Manitoba general election of 1977 was held on 11 October. The results were as follows:

Party	Leader	Votes	Seats
Progressive Conservative	Sterling Rufus Lyon (1927-2010)	237,496	33
New Democratic	Edward Richard “Ed” Schreyer	188,124	23
Liberal	Charles Richard Huband (1932-2023)	59,865	1
Social Credit	John William Gross (1914-1994)	1,323	0
Communist	William Cecil Ross (c1911-1998)	299	0
Independent	-	47	0
Totals		487,154	57

The voting results for individual constituencies were as follows:

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes
Arthur	James Erwin “Jim” Downey	Progressive Conservative	4,405
	Earl Sterling	New Democratic	1,172
	Murray Lee	Liberal	901
Assiniboia	Norma Killeen Price (1920-2008)	Progressive Conservative	7,863
	Stephen Clifford “Steve” Patrick (1932-2014)	Liberal	4,271
	Max Melnyk	New Democratic	2,106
Birtle-Russell	Henry Edward “Harry” Graham (1921-2006)	Progressive Conservative	3,066
	Peter Merry	New Democratic	2,612
	Douglas Francis “Doug” MacIsaac (1936-1992)	Liberal	1,169
Brandon East	Leonard Salusbury “Len” Evans (1929-2016)	New Democratic	4,217
	James Thornborough	Progressive Conservative	3,195
	James Manishen	Liberal	558
Brandon West	Edward Robert McGill (1912-1996)	Progressive Conservative	5,680
	Henry Nelson Carroll (1937-2015)	New Democratic	4,601
	Phil Cels	Liberal	807
	John William Gross (1914-1994)	Social Credit	107
Burrows	Ben Hanuschak	New Democratic	4,103
	Ken Alylula	Progressive Conservative	1,688
	Anne Percheson	Liberal	490
Charleswood	Sterling Rufus Lyon (1927-2010)	Progressive Conservative	10,559
	Maureen Lucille Miller Hemphill	New Democratic	4,216
	Beverly Riley	Liberal	1,493
Churchill	Jay Marine Cowan (1946-2022)	New Democratic	2,280
	Mark Ingebrigtson	Progressive Conservative	1,992
	Andrew Kirkness	Liberal	1,140
Crescentwood	Warren J. Steen (1940-2009)	Progressive Conservative	3,253
	Muriel Ann Lipsey Smith	New Democratic	3,181
	Charles Richard Huband (1932-2023)	Liberal	2,702
Dauphin	James Gordon “Jim” Galbraith	Progressive Conservative	4,590
	Peter Burtniak (1925-2004)	New Democratic	4,330
Elmwood	Russell John “Russ” Doern (1935-1987)	New Democratic	4,136
	Ken Gunn-Walberg	Progressive Conservative	3,282
	Ken Vincent	Liberal	675
Emerson	Albert Driedger (1936-2011)	Progressive Conservative	3,125
	Steve Derewianchuk	New Democratic	2,153
	Gabriel Catellier	Liberal	1,439
Flin Flon	Thomas Aiden Barrow (1916-1982)	New Democratic	2,917
	Nyall Hyndman	Progressive Conservative	2,522
	Walter Shmon	Liberal	309
Fort Garry	Louis Ralph “Bud” Sherman (1926-2015)	Progressive Conservative	10,052
	Ruth Pear	New Democratic	4,157
	Beth Candlish	Liberal	2,423
Fort Rouge	Lloyd Norman Axworthy	Liberal	4,153
	Julian Hugh McDonald	Progressive Conservative	3,486
	Ermano Barone	New Democratic	2,863
Gimli	Keith Alan Cosens (1932-1990)	Progressive Conservative	4,515
	George B. Schreyer (1920-2017)	New Democratic	3,795
Gladstone	James Robert “Jim” Ferguson (1925-2013)	Progressive Conservative	4,635
	William “Bill” Werbiski	New Democratic	2,151
	Sid Lachter	Liberal	662
Inkster	Sidney “Sid” Green	New Democratic	5,175
	Barrie Jones	Progressive Conservative	2,711
	Barry Krawchuk	Liberal	934
	William Cecil Ross (c1911-1998)	Communist	86
Kildonan	Peter Fox (1921-1989)	New Democratic	5,568
	James “Jim” Hanson	Progressive Conservative	4,651
	Norm Stapon	Liberal	929
Lac du Bonnet	Samuel “Sam” Uskiw (1933-2011)	New Democratic	5,037
	John Vaags	Progressive Conservative	3,795
	Robert “Bob” Dyne	Liberal	515
Lakeside	Harry John Enns (1931-2010)	Progressive Conservative	3,987
	Phillip “Phil” Schwarz	New Democratic	1,494
	Douglas Clifford	Liberal	1,034
La Verendrye	Robert David Banman	Progressive Conservative	4,914
	Alphonse Fournier	New Democratic	1,601
	Robert “Bob” Rempel	Liberal	924
Logan	William Walter “Bill” Jenkins (1921-1995)	New Democratic	2,956
	Rita Serbin	Progressive Conservative	1,449
	Piercy Augustus “Percy” Haynes (1911-1992)	Liberal	578
Minnedosa	David Robert “Dave” Blake (1925-2008)	Progressive Conservative	3,912
	John Martens	New Democratic	2,311
	Albert Moad	Liberal	474
	C. V. Hutton	Social Credit	272
Morris	Warner Herbert Jorgenson (1918-2005)	Progressive Conservative	4,484
	Al Lenz	New Democratic	1,152
	Donald “Don” MacGillivray	Liberal	516
Osborne	Gerald Wayne “Gerry” Mercier	Progressive Conservative	3,803
	Ian Denys Turnbull	New Democratic	3,707
	Gilbert Ivan Paul (1922-2004)	Liberal	655
	Larry Johnston	Independent	47
Pembina	Donald Warder “Don” Orchard	Progressive Conservative	5,214
	Victor Epp	Liberal	1,141
	Marianne Martin	New Democratic	1,117
Point Douglas	Donald Marto Malinowski (1924-2003)	New Democratic	3,116
	Margaret Didenko	Progressive Conservative	915
	Donald Dean “Don” Marks (1953-2016)	Liberal	769
	Harold Dyck	Communist	62
	Peter Stevens	Social Credit	59
Portage la Prairie	Lloyd George “Jiggs” Hyde (1920-1985)	Progressive Conservative	3,552
	Peter Swidnicki	New Democratic	2,067
	Hugh Moran	Liberal	1,893
Radisson	Abe Kovnats (1928-1996)	Progressive Conservative	4,535
	Harry Shafransky (1930-1986)	New Democratic	3,757
	Evelyne Reese	Liberal	1,394
Rhineland	Peter Arnold Brown (1927-1994)	Progressive Conservative	3,610
	Jacob Heinrichs	New Democratic	1,001
	Ray Hamm	Liberal	943
	Jacob M. “Jake” Froese (1917-2003)	Social Credit	813
Riel	Donald William Craik (1931-1985)	Progressive Conservative	10,412
	Doreen Dodick	New Democratic	6,427
	Charles F. Greene	Liberal	2,589
River Heights	Sidney Joel Spivak (1928-2002)	Progressive Conservative	6,175
	David C. Walker	Liberal	1,662
	Jill Oliver	New Democratic	1,091
Roblin	James Wallace “Wally” McKenzie (1914-1999)	Progressive Conservative	3,291
	Ken Mikolayenko	New Democratic	2,351
	Joe Andronyk	Liberal	410
Rock Lake	Henry John Einarson (1918-1992)	Progressive Conservative	4,243
	Ronald Devos	Liberal	1,167
	Eric B. Irwin (1955-2017)	New Democratic	1,029
Rossmere	Edward Richard “Ed” Schreyer	New Democratic	9,246
	Henry Krahn	Progressive Conservative	8,516
	Brian Norris	Liberal	680
Rupertsland	Harvey Kenneth Bostrom	New Democratic	2,141
	George R. Weiss	Progressive Conservative	1,625
	Norman Gunn	Liberal	741
St. Boniface	Laurent Louis “Larry” Desjardins (1923-2012)	New Democratic	4,266
	W. J. “Pete” Poitras	Progressive Conservative	1,833
	George Ricard	Liberal	1,699
St. George	William “Bill” Uruski	New Democratic	3,103
	Albert Rohl	Progressive Conservative	2,568
	Duncan Edward Geisler (1948-2019)	Liberal	369
St. James	Clement George Minaker (1937-2012)	Progressive Conservative	5,199
	Curtis Nordman	New Democratic	2,853
	John Wilson	Liberal	749
St. Johns	Saul Mark Cherniack (1917-2018)	New Democratic	3,845
	John Borger	Progressive Conservative	1,892
	Myroslaw Tracz	Liberal	733
	Don Plowman	Communist	81
St. Matthews	Leonard Anthony “Len” Domino	Progressive Conservative	3,119
	Thorkell Wallace “Wally” Johannson	New Democratic	2,995
	Roy Yerex	Liberal	459
	Richard Stonyk	Social Credit	72
St. Vital	Derek James “Jim” Walding (1937-2007)	New Democratic	3,924
	Gil Shaw	Progressive Conservative	3,390
	Eddie Coutu	Liberal	2,115
Ste. Rose	Aimé Rawleigh “Pete” Adam (1913-2009)	New Democratic	2,611
	Arthur Erickson	Progressive Conservative	1,830
	John Fleming	Liberal	1,219
Selkirk	Howard Russell Pawley (1934-2015)	New Democratic	5,159
	Tom Denton	Progressive Conservative	4,452
	Ed Motkaluk	Liberal	573
Seven Oaks	Saul Alecs Miller (1917-1993)	New Democratic	7,597
	Carl Zawatsky	Progressive Conservative	6,777
	Sue Juravsky	Liberal	798
	Charles J. C. Watson	Communist	70
Souris-Killarney	Alan Brian Ransom (1940-2020)	Progressive Conservative	4,519
	Howard Nixon	New Democratic	1,500
	Jean Isobel Strath (1930-2011)	Liberal	1,207
Springfield	Robert “Bob” Anderson	Progressive Conservative	5,843
	Rene Ernest Toupin (1934-2014)	New Democratic	3,995
	Rita Roeland	Liberal	700
Sturgeon Creek	John Franklin “Frank” Johnston (1929-2017)	Progressive Conservative	7,407
	James Donald “Don” Simpson	New Democratic	2,655
	Peter Moss Jr.	Liberal	1,736
Swan River	Douglas MacLeod “Doug” Gourlay	Progressive Conservative	3,909
	Leonard Ernest “Len” Harapiak	New Democratic	3,179
The Pas	Sydney Ronald “Ron” McBryde (1941-1989)	New Democratic	3,471
	Percy Pielak	Progressive Conservative	1,965
	Edwin Jebb	Liberal	714
Thompson	Kenneth “Ken” MacMaster	Progressive Conservative	3,947
	Kenneth George “Ken” Dillen (1938-2020)	New Democratic	3,031
	Oliver James Monkman (1938-2020)	Liberal	283
Transcona	Wilson Dwight Peter Parasiuk	New Democratic	6,474
	Tony Leonard	Progressive Conservative	4,749
	Douglas Dennison	Liberal	767
Virden	Donald Morris McGregor (1923-2003)	Progressive Conservative	3,669
	Edward Raymond “Ed” Arndt (1939-2019)	New Democratic	1,635
Wellington	Brian Mark Corrin	New Democratic	3,591
	Geoff Dixon	Progressive Conservative	2,376
	Mario Santos	Liberal	591
Winnipeg Centre	Joseph Russell “Bud” Boyce (1924-1984)	New Democratic	2,217
	Philip Siu Lun “Phil” Lee	Progressive Conservative	1,587
	Ken Wong	Liberal	727
Wolseley	Robert George “Bob” Wilson	Progressive Conservative	2,763
	Murdoch MacKay (1930-2023)	New Democratic	2,689
	Norma Kester McCormick	Liberal	1,286

See also:

Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial By-Elections (1979)

Memorable Manitobans: Members of the Thirty-First Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (1977-1981)

Sources:

“Manitoba takes on a new political hue – Tory blue,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 October 1977, page 16.

Historical Summaries, ElectionsManitoba.

Obituary [Jean Isobel Strath], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 November 2011.

Obituary [Oliver James Monkman], Winnipeg Free Press, 12 August 2020.

We thank Oliver Bernuetz (Legislative Library of Manitoba) for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 20 April 2025