Inez Geneva Trueman (née Gandrud; April 8, 1917 – August 22, 2015) was 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. She served as a Progressive Conservative member of the

Manitoba legislature The Manitoba Legislature is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor of Manitoba, lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada) and the unicameral assemb ...

from 1969 to 1973, and later ran for the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

. She was only the fifth woman ever to serve in the assembly. Trueman was born in Glenwood,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and educated at the Kahler School of Nursing in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

, and worked as a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

. She married Kenneth Trueman, a physician and son of Walter Harley Trueman. She was the President of the Junior League of Winnipeg from 1951–52. Trueman served as a 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 ...

from 1968 to 1969. She was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1969, defeating

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 ...

Una Decter by 304 votes in the Winnipeg riding of Fort Rouge. The NDP won this election, and Trueman sat in the opposition benches, where she was the health and welfare critic. In 1971, she was one of only two opposition MLAs to support the NDP government in amalgamating the city of Winnipeg. In the 1973 election, she lost her seat to

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate

Lloyd Axworthy Lloyd Norman Axworthy (born December 21, 1939) is a Canadian politician, elder statesman and academic. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Following his retirement from parliament ...

. Trueman did not seek re-election to the provincial legislature after this, but ran for the federal Progressive Conservative Party in the national election of 1980 in the

Winnipeg—Fort Garry Winnipeg—Fort Garry was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1988. It consisted of the Fort Rouge, Winnipeg, Fort Rouge and Fort Gar ...

riding. She was again defeated by Lloyd Axworthy, by this time the incumbent MP running for the federal Liberals. In 1984, she was elected president of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party. She died on August 22, 2015, in Winnipeg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trueman, Inez Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs 1917 births 2015 deaths Women MLAs in Manitoba Winnipeg city councillors Women municipal councillors in Manitoba People from Glenwood, Minnesota 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors 20th-century Canadian women politicians