Reg Alcock - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Alcock was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. He was the director of Manitoba Child and Family Services from 1983 to 1985 and in this capacity spearheaded an effort to rewrite the province's child protection legislation. As a result of his efforts, Manitoba became the first province in Canada to introduce official protocols to deal with instances of child sex abuse. Alcock has also been active with the Harvard Policy Group, which studies the effects of Information Technology on the public sector. He began his political career at the provincial level, working as an organizer for the Manitoba Liberal Party in the early 1980s.

Alcock was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the Winnipeg division of Osborne in the 1988 provincial election, in which the Manitoba Liberal Party rose from one seat to twenty under the leadership of Sharon Carstairs. He later worked as campaign manager for high-profile Liberal incumbent Lloyd Axworthy in the 1988 federal election. Alcock served as official opposition house leader and finance critic and was re-elected in the 1990 provincial election despite a shift against his party. He endorsed Jean Chrétien's bid to lead the federal Liberal Party in 1990, and declared his own intention to enter federal politics in 1992.

Alcock won the Liberal nomination for Winnipeg South in early 1993, defeating rival candidate Linda Asper by only five votes on the third ballot of a divisive contest. He won a convincing victory over incumbent Progressive Conservative incumbent Dorothy Dobbie in the 1993 federal election, and entered parliament as a government backbencher.