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Sidney Green
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Lawyer, MLA (1966-1969), MLA (1969-1973), MLA (1973-1977), MLA (1977-1981).
Born at Winnipeg on 1 August 1929, he was educated at King Edward School, Isaac Newton High School, and the Manitoba Law School, graduating from the latter in 1955. He partnered with Leon Mitchell in the law firm of Mitchell & Green.
He joined the New Democratic Party in the early 1960s and was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1962 general federal election. Subsequently elected to the Winnipeg city council, he was re-elected in 1964. He resigned the seat in 1965 to try again in the federal general election but was again unsuccessful. In 1966, he was elected to the Manitoba Legislature and was re-elected in 1969, 1973, and 1977. In 1968, he sought the leadership of the party but was defeated by incumbent Russ Paulley. The following year, he was defeated again in his leadership bid, this time by Ed Schreyer.
He held several ministerial portfolios in Schreyer’s government, including Health and Social Services (1969), Mines and Natural Resources (1969-1971), Mines, Resources, and Environmental Management (1971-1972, 1972-1973), Minister Responsible for Urban Affairs (1971-1972, 1972-1973), and Minister Responsible for the Manitoba Development Corporation (1973-1977). In 1970, he was made a Queen’s Counsel. He left the NDP caucus in 1979 and, along with Bud Boyce and Ben Hanuschak, formed the Manitoba Progressive Party in 1981. He lost his seat in the 1981 provincial general election and failed in six subsequent attempts at re-election, including in 1984, 1986, 1988, and 1990. He later wrote about his political life in the 2003 memoir Rise & Fall of a Political Animal. He served as a Bencher for the Law Society of Manitoba (1998-2000).
In recognition of his community service, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977) and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:
Review: Dale Gibson, Lee Gibson and Cameron Harvey, Attorney for the Frontier: Enos Stutsman
Manitoba History, Number 9, Spring 1985
“Future cabinet ministers, their past and present,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 July 1969, page 26.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 21 October 2023
