Harold Neufeld (born October 10, 1927) 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 1988 to 1993, and 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 government of

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 ...

from 1988 to 1992.

Career

Neufeld began a public practice as a Chartered Accountant in 1954, and was a member of the Chartered Accountants of Manitoba. He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election as a Progressive Conservative, losing to incumbent

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

Vic Schroeder Victor Harold Schroeder (born February 16, 1944) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1979 to 1988, and a senior cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party government of Howard Pawley ...

by 527 votes in the north-end

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 ...

riding of Rossmere. In the 1988 election, with NDP support falling throughout the province, he was able to defeat Schroeder by 526 votes in a rematch. Neufeld 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 and Seniors on May 9, 1988. He was relieved of the latter responsibility on April 21, 1989. He was re-elected by an increased margin in the 1990 provincial election. Neufeld stepped down from his cabinet position on January 14, 1992, and resigned from the legislature on May 12, 1993. There are suggestions that Neufeld resigned as a matter of principle, disturbed by the dubious methods used by the Filmon government to conceal its

deficit spending Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit, the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budg ...

. A lifelong

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

, Neufeld joined the executive of Menno Simons College and became chair of the Menno Simons College Foundation after his retirement from the legislature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neufield, Harold Neufeld, Harold Neufeld, Harold Neufeld, Harold Neufeld People from Altona, Manitoba Neufeld Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Canadian accountants 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba