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Bill Uruski (born July 27, 1942) is a retired
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
in
Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. He was a member of the
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba () is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at List of Manitoba genera ...
from 1969 to 1990, and was a
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
in the
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
governments of
Edward Schreyer Edward Richard Schreyer (born December 21, 1935) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as the 22nd governor general of Canada from 1979 to 1984. He previously served as the 16th premier of Manitoba from 1969 to 1977. Schr ...
and
Howard Pawley Howard Russell Pawley (November 21, 1934 – December 30, 2015) was a Canadian politician and professor who was the 18th premier of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988. Prior to his premiership, Pawley served in various ministerial positions after his ...
. The son of Frank Uruski and Mary Shwaliuk, Uruski was born and educated in Poplarfield. He did not attend a university; however, he was a
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
constable from 1962 to 1967, and also worked as a
farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...
before entering public life. In 1964, he married Elaine Stonoga. Uruski was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1969, defeating longtime Liberal MLA Elman Guttormson in the rural, mid-northern riding of
St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
. The NDP formed government after this election, and Uruski served as a government backbencher for the next four years. Uruski defeated Guttormson again in the 1973 provincial election, even though the Progressive Conservative Party declined to run a candidate for fear of vote-splitting with the Liberals. On August 29, 1973, he was named a
Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
, responsible for the
Manitoba Public Insurance Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation (MPI; ) is the non-profit organization, non-profit Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation which administers public auto insurance, motor vehicle registration, and driver's license, driver licensing in ...
Corporation and the Motor Vehicle Branch. On March 31, 1976,
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
Schreyer also assigned him responsibility for the Civil Service Act. On September 22, 1976, he was promoted to Minister of Municipal Affairs, still retaining responsibility for the CSA. The NDP were defeated in the general election of 1977, and Uruski was re-elected by a reduced margin. There were some suggestions that he would run to succeed Schreyer as party leader in 1979, although these ultimately came to nothing. Howard Pawley led the NDP to a majority government in the 1981 election, and Uruski was re-elected in the redistributed riding of Interlake. He returned to cabinet on November 30, 1981, as Minister of Agriculture. Until August 20, 1982, he also held responsibility for the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act. Uruski attempted to develop his party's support base in rural Manitoba while serving as Agriculture Minister, though he had little success to this end. However, he had more success in opening Manitoba hog production to the American marketplace. On September 21, 1987, Uruski was again made Minister of Municipal Affairs with responsibility for the MPIC. Early in 1988, the NDP were unexpectedly defeated in the legislature when backbench MLA
Jim Walding Derek James Walding (May 9, 1937 – April 23, 2007) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1971 to 1988 and served as speaker of the assembly from 1982 to 1986. Walding was a member o ...
voted with the opposition in an evenly divided house. Uruski was one of only twelve New Democrats re-elected in the election which followed, and formally stepped down from cabinet with the resignation of the Pawley government on May 9, 1988. The PCs, who won the most seats, formed a minority government with tacit NDP support against a Liberal opposition. He did not seek re-election in
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
. Uruski was known as a promoter of Indigenous issues during his time in government (his riding had a large Indigenous population). In 1995, he was among the first to investigate alleged connections between the supposedly autonomous Independent Native Voice party and the Progressive Conservatives, after reports circulated that Interlake INV candidate Darryl Sutherland was running at the behest of local Tory interests with the intent of splitting the NDP vote. These allegations would become public three years later, and a public inquiry would rule that, in fact, local Tory organizers had persuaded Sutherland to run. In the 1999 provincial election, Uruski served as the NDP campaign manager in Interlake, supervising the successful campaign of party candidate
Tom Nevakshonoff Thomas George Nevakshonoff (born December 22, 1958) is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Manitoba legislature, prior to his defeat in 2016. Nevakshonoff was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He grew up in Poplarfie ...
. Uruski later became part of the ''Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council Incorporated''. He also returned to farming and served on the board of the ''Manitoba Turkey Producers'' organization. In 2003, he represented the ''Poultry Welfare Coalition'' in a presentation to the
Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...
. He has criticized the tactics of the
Monsanto Company The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...
in expanding their corporate base in the Canadian prairies. From 2006 to 2009, Uruski served as chairman of the Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uruski, Bill New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs 1942 births Farmers from Manitoba Living people Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba