Early Career
He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the general election of 1962, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative John Christianson by 290 votes in Portage La Prairie. In the 1966 election, he was re-elected over Christianson by 735 votes.
The once-dominant Liberal Party was the official legislative opposition for most of the 1960s, and its support dropped even lower in the election of 1969. The party won only five seats, and Johnston was re-elected over Tory candidate Harvey Carmichael by only eleven votes. After the election, he offered to serve as Speaker of the legislature to allow Edward Schreyer's New Democratic Party to form a minority government.
Liberal Party leader Robert Bend was defeated in the 1969 election, and Johnston was chosen to serve as house leader until a permanent replacement could be chosen. He endorsed John Nesbitt's unsuccessful bid for the party leadership in 1970, and was one of only two opposition members who voted to amalgamate the city of Winnipeg in 1971.
Read more about this topic: Gordon Johnston (Canadian Politician)
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