Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba - History

History

Further information: List of lieutenant governors of Manitoba

The office of Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba came into being in 1870, upon Manitoba's entry into Canadian Confederation, and evolved from the earlier position of Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories, though the occupants continued to simultaneously act as Lieutenant Governors of the Northwest Territories and later as Lieutenant Governors of Keewatin District, until the latter was divided into Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. Since 1867, 24 lieutenant governors have served the province, amongst whom were notable firsts, such as Pearl McGonigal – the first female lieutenant governor of the province – and W. Yvon Dumont – the first Métis lieutenant governor. The shortest mandate by a Lieutenant Governor of Alberta was Adams George Archibald, from August 1870 to October 1872, while the longest was Roland Fairbairn McWilliams, from 1 November 1940 to 1 August 1953.

In 1919, the Manitoba legislature voted in favour of The Initiative and Referendum Act, which sought to eliminate the lieutenant governor from the legislative process in the province. Royal Assent to the bill was reserved by Lieutenant Governor James Aikins and eventually the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council at Westminster ruled that, since the law affected an appointee of the federal Crown, it was ultra vires and struck down.

Lieutenant Governor George Johnson was called upon to use his reserve powers in March 1988. The governing New Democratic Party (NDP) lost its thin majority in the legislature when one of its Members of the Legislative Aseembly, Jim Walding, moved to an opposition party and voted along with the rest of the opposition against the proposed budget, a matter of confidence and supply. Johnson thereafter dissolved the legislature and called an election and the premier, Howard Pawley, announced his resignation both as premier and as leader of the NDP. Pawley felt that he could "hand over the premiership" to whomever succeeded him as party leader. Johnson, however, retained Pawley as premier, waiting until after the provincial eletion to appoint a successor, so that whomever was by then NDP leader could face and test the confidence of the legislature, should the NDP even win. The NDP failed to win the election, regardless.