George Reginald Provost (August 11, 1936 - July 17, 2002) was a businessman and city councillor in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

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, Canada. He served on

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from 1977 to 1980, and later sought election to 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 ...

Councillor

Provost was a publisher, consultant and entrepreneur in private life. He served on the old St. Boniface City Council from 1964 to 1967, before the city was amalgamated into Winnipeg. He later sought re-election to the council in a 1970 by-election, but lost to rival candidate Michael Dennehy. He was elected to

Winnipeg City Council The Winnipeg City Council () is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Council is seated in the Council Building of Winnipeg City Hall.1977 municipal election as an independent candidate, defeating incumbent councillor Ed Kotowich from the centre-right Independent Citizens' Election Committee (ICEC) in the Langevin ward. During a March 1978 debate on bus fares, Provost said that he would oppose any fare increase for

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

s. He later voted with the majority on council to introduce bilingual

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and

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signs to Winnipeg. When confronting local opposition to this initiative, Provost said that there were many anti-French bigots in the city. He was defeated for re-election in the 1980 municipal campaign, finishing third against independent candidate

Evelyne Reese Evelyne Reese is a retired politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She served on the Winnipeg City Council for fifteen years, and ran for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba on two occasions as a candidate of the Manitoba Liberal Party, Liberal ...

. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' newspaper indicates that he lost public support after railing against what he believed were fire hazards in municipal hospitals, even after an investigation concluded that he was mistaken.

Later life

Provost later served as general manager of the Manitoba division of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, and was appointed executive director and secretary treasurer of the Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba Inc. in 1997. He also started a company called Showtime Marketing Services Ltd., and produced a series of novelty Manitoba license plates in 1994 to commemorate the province's 125th anniversary the following year. Provost ran as a candidate of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC; ) is a centre-right political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is currently the opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, following a defeat in the 2023 provincial election. Hist ...

in the 1981 provincial election, and finished a distant second against

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 ...

candidate

Gerard Lecuyer Gerard Lecuyer (born August 2, 1936, in Saint Boniface, Manitoba) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988, and a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party government of H ...

Radisson Radisson Hotels is a multi-brand hotel chain with a worldwide presence. Its brands include several using the Radisson name, as well as other brands like Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Country Inn & Suites. In June 2022, Radisson Hotel Group ...

. He sought re-election to city council in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

but finished third against Evelyne Reese both times. He was a candidate for the St. Boniface ward in the 1995 municipal election, but withdrew from the campaign before election day. He ran again in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, and finished third against incumbent councillor

Dan Vandal Daniel Vandal (born April 18, 1960) is a Canadian politician. He represented St. Boniface on the Winnipeg City Council from 1995 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2014, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Winnipeg in 2004, coming in second to Sam Katz. ...

. During this election, he identified property taxes as the most important issue facing the ward. Provost ran for a seat on the St. Boniface School Board in a 1999 by-election, and finished second against Tricia Barnabe. He ran for another seat on the same board in a further by-election in 2000, and finished fourth against Laura Reimer. He died on July 17, 2002, at age 65.Kevin Rollason, "They will never be forgotten", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 31 December 2002, A8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provost, George 2002 deaths Winnipeg city councillors 1936 births