Donald Warder Orchard (born April 11, 1946) is a

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 ...

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. 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 1977 to 1995, 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 Progressive Conservative governments of

Sterling Lyon Sterling Rufus Lyon (January 30, 1927 – December 16, 2010) was a Canadian lawyer, cabinet minister, and the 17th premier of Manitoba from 1977 to 1981. His government introduced several fiscally-conservative measures, and was sometimes seen a ...

and

Gary Filmon Gary Albert Filmon (born August 24, 1942) is a Canadian politician from Manitoba who served as the 19th premier of Manitoba. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as the premier from ...

. The son of Warder Franklin John Orchard and Muriel Bernice King, he was born in Miami, Manitoba, and was educated at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

. He worked as a farmer after graduation, becoming active in the Miami Agricultural Society and the local

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

organization. In 1969, he married Edna Jane Simpson. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1977, in the safe Conservative seat of Pembina. He was re-elected in this riding in the elections of

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

and

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 ...

, each time by a comfortable margin. The Progressive Conservatives won the 1977 election under Sterling Lyon, and Orchard was appointed

Minister of Highways and Transport Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

on November 15, 1979. He was also appointed Chairman of the Provisional Land Use Committee on January 1, 1980, and was given ministerial responsibility for

Manitoba Data Services 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 ...

on January 16, 1981. The

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

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 ...

won the 1981 election, and Orchard resigned from cabinet on November 30, 1981. The Progressive Conservatives won a minority government in 1988 under

, and Orchard was appointed

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

on May 9 of that year (despite the fact that he attempted to remove Filmon as party leader in 1986). He held this portfolio until September 10, 1993, when he was appointed

Minister of Energy and Mines Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

with responsibility for the Manitoba Hydro Act. He did not seek re-election in 1995, and resigned from cabinet on March 20 of that year. As Health Minister, Orchard banned Medicare coverage from

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician, and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

's private

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

clinic. This decision provoked criticism from both sides of the abortion debate; some wanted the clinic closed entirely, while others wanted full funding. Orchard was a rural populist, on the right-wing of the Progressive Conservative Party. In 2003, he supported cooperation between the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...

with the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...

in the

Portage—Lisgar Portage—Lisgar is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Demographics :''According to the 2021 Canadian census'' ''Ethnic groups:'' 82.3% White, 11.5% Ind ...

riding, before the two parties were formally merged.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orchard, Donald Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs 1946 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba People from Pembina Valley Region, Manitoba 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba