Minister of Government Services (Manitoba)
The Minister of Government Services is a former cabinet position in the government of Manitoba.
The position was created on January 13, 1871, carrying out the responsibilities of the Board of Public Works from the defunct Council of Assiniboia. The minister was originally styled as the Minister of Public Works. The department was responsible for overseeing roads, bridges, ferries and related services.
The first Public Works minister of Manitoba was Thomas Howard, who resigned from the position after only ten days to exchange portfolios with Provincial Secretary Alfred Boyd. Until Edward Hay's resignation in 1874, all ministers of Public Works in Manitoba were also ministers of Agriculture (J.H. Ellis, The Ministry of Agriculture in Manitoba, p. 54).
Manitoba's population increased significantly in the late nineteenth century, and the department of Public Works became increasingly important in providing services to new arrivals. During the premiership of Rodmond Palen Roblin (1900-1915), the department became especially powerful as a tool of government patronage. Robert Rogers, who held the portfolio for eleven years, was sometimes regarded as the second most important figure in the Roblin government.
In later 1914, Public Works minister Walter Humphries Montague was forced to announce that expenditures for the province's new legislative buildings would be exceeded by fifty per cent. Roblin was forced to appoint a Royal Commission to study the controversy, and his government resigned from office the following year after the commission report identified instances government corruption and kickbacks. Montague was indicted on fraud charges, but died before legal proceedings could begin.
In later years, specific government works were taken away from the Public Works ministry and allocated to separate portfolios. The position gradually came to have less authority, though it remained responsible for road construction and related projects in mid-century.
Upon the establishment of an all-party coalition government in 1940, Progressive Conservative leader Errick French Willis was appointed as Public Works minister under a Liberal-Progressive premier. He held the position for ten years, until the Progressive Conservatives left the coalition.
The department was renamed as the Ministry of Government Services in 1969, and Howard Pawley became Manitoba's first Minister of Government Services in the administration of Edward Schreyer. Two years later, when Joseph Borowski was appointed as minister, the department was renamed as Public Works again. It was changed back to Government Services by Premier Sterling Lyon in 1978, with the appointment of Sidney Spivak as minister.
The position was restructured by the incoming government of Gary Doer in 1999, and was incorporated into the Highways and Government Services portfolio. Two years later, it was again renamed as Transportation and Government Services.
The current ministry lists its government service responsibilities as follows: "The Government Services component provides a wide range of central support services to government in an efficient, cost-effective manner. Primary services include the construction, leasing and maintenance of government buildings and property across the province. Management services for information technology, transportation, and telecommunications."
Ministers of Public Works/Government Services in Manitoba
| Name | Party | Took Office | Left Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Howard |
January 13, 1871 | January 23, 1871 | ||
| Alfred Boyd |
January 23, 1871 | December 14, 1871 | ||
| John Norquay |
Conservative | December 14, 1871 | July 8, 1874 | |
| Edward Hay |
Liberal | July 8, 1874 | December 2, 1874 | |
| Joseph Royal |
Conservative | December 3, 1874 | May 11, 1876 | |
| John Norquay |
Conservative | May 11, 1876 | October 16, 1878 | |
| Joseph Royal |
Conservative | October 16, 1878 | May 1879 | |
| Samuel Biggs |
May 1879 | June 1879 | ||
| Corydon Brown |
Conservative | June 1879 | August 27, 1886 | |
| David H. Wilson |
Conservative | August 27, 1886 | December 24, 1887 | |
| David H. Wilson |
Conservative | December 26, 1887 | January 19, 1888 | |
| James Smart |
Liberal | January 19, 1888 | May 26, 1892 | |
| Robert Watson |
Liberal | May 26, 1892 | January 6, 1900 | |
| David H. McFadden |
Conservative | January 10, 1900 | December 20, 1900 | |
| Robert Rogers |
Conservative | December 20, 1900 | October 7, 1911 | |
| Colin H. Campbell |
Conservative | October 11, 1911 | November 4, 1913 | |
| Walter Humphries Montague |
Conservative | November 4, 1913 | May 12, 1915 | |
| Thomas Herman Johnson |
Liberal | May 15, 1915 | November 10, 1917 | |
| George Grierson |
Liberal | November 10, 1917 | January 20, 1921 | |
| Charles Duncan McPherson |
Liberal | January 20, 1921 | August 8, 1922 | |
| William Clubb |
Progressive | August 8, 1922 | February 22, 1929 | |
| Donald McKenzie (*) |
Progressive | February 22, 1929 | May 18, 1929 | |
| William Clubb |
Progressive | May 18, 1929 | 1932 | |
| Liberal-Progressive | 1932 | November 4, 1940 | ||
| Errick Willis |
Progressive Conservative (Coalition) | November 4, 1940 | August 19, 1950 | |
| William Morton |
Liberal-Progressive | August 19, 1950 | January 25, 1955 | |
| Francis Campbell Bell |
Liberal-Progressive | January 25, 1955 | July 6, 1956 | |
| Ronald Robertson |
Liberal-Progressive | July 6, 1956 | June 30, 1958 | |
| Errick Willis |
Progressive Conservative | June 30, 1958 | December 21, 1959 | |
| John Thompson |
Progressive Conservative | December 21, 1959 | October 24, 1962 | |
| Walter Weir |
Progressive Conservative | November 5, 1962 | July 22, 1966 | |
| Stewart McLean |
Progressive Conservative | July 22, 1966 | September 24, 1968 | |
| Thelma Forbes |
Progressive Conservative | September 24, 1968 | July 15, 1969 | |
| Howard Pawley |
New Democratic Party | July 15, 1969 | December 18, 1969 | |
| Russell Paulley |
New Democratic Party | December 18, 1969 | September 3, 1970 | |
| Joseph Borowski |
New Democratic Party | September 3, 1970 | September 8, 1971 | |
| Russell Doern(*) |
New Democratic Party | September 9, 1971 | October 24, 1977 | |
| Harry Enns |
Progressive Conservative | October 24, 1977 | October 20, 1978 | |
| Sidney Spivak |
Progressive Conservative | October 20, 1978 | April 12, 1979 | |
| Harry Enns |
Progressive Conservative | April 12, 1979 | January 16, 1981 | |
| Warner H. Jorgenson |
Progressive Conservative | January 16, 1981 | November 30, 1981 | |
| Sam Uskiw |
New Democratic Party | November 30, 1981 | August 20, 1982 | |
| John Plohman |
New Democratic Party | August 20, 1982 | November 4, 1983 | |
| Aime Adam |
New Democratic Party | November 4, 1983 | January 30, 1985 | |
| John Plohman |
New Democratic Party | January 30, 1985 | February 4, 1987 | |
| Harry Harapiak |
New Democratic Party | February 4, 1987 | May 9, 1988 | |
| Albert Driedger |
Progressive Conservative | May 9, 1988 | February 5, 1991 | |
| Gerald Ducharme |
Progressive Conservative | February 5, 1991 | May 9, 1995 | |
| Brian Pallister |
Progressive Conservative | May 9, 1995 | January 6, 1997 | |
| Frank Pitura |
Progressive Conservative | January 6, 1997 | October 5, 1999 |
(*) McKenzie was an acting minister. Doern was acting minister until April 13, 1972.