Provincial Politics
Pallister began his political career at the provincial level, winning a by-election in Portage La Prairie on September 15, 1992 as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba. He entered the provincial legislature as a backbench supporter of the Filmon government, and pushed for balanced budget legislation. In 1993, he endorsed Jean Charest's bid to lead the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
He was re-elected in the 1995 provincial election, and was sworn in to cabinet on May 9, 1995 as Minister of Government Services. He carried out reforms that eliminated almost 3,000 pages of statutory regulations as part of a government campaign against red tape, presided over changes to the Manitoba Disaster Assistance Board, and oversaw provincial flood claims. He stepped down from cabinet on January 6, 1997 to prepare for his first federal campaign.
Pallister defeated Paul-Emile Labossiere to win the Progressive Conservative nomination for Portage—Lisgar in the 1997 federal election, and formally resigned his seat in the legislature on April 28, 1997. Considered a star candidate for the Progressive Conservatives, he nonetheless lost to Reform Party incumbent Jake Hoeppner by 1,449 votes.
There were rumours that Pallister would campaign to succeed Gary Filmon as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in 2000, but he declined.
Following the 2011 provincial election, Hugh McFadyen announced his resignation as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba. On April 11, 2012, Pallister announced his intention to seek the party's leadership, which he subsequently won by acclamation on July 30, 2012.
Read more about this topic: Brian Pallister
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