Peter Burtniak (March 26, 1925 in Fork River,

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 ...

– April 8, 2004) 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 ...

in Manitoba,

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. He was a New Democratic 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 1977, and served as 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

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 ...

. The son of Fred Burtniak and Pearl Kalinchuk, Burtniak was educated in the Manitoba school system, and worked as a farm implement dealer and farmer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the Fort Garry Horse Active Reserve Army Corps. He was President of the Fork River Branch of the Manitoba Pool Elevators for twenty years, and served as Provincial Director of the Manitoba Farmers Union from 1952 to 1956. He was also a board member of the Manitoba Federation of Agriculture from 1954 to 1956. He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1958 as a candidate of the CCF in Ethelbert Plains, but lost to Liberal-Progressive incumbent Michael Hryhorczuk by 981 votes. He ran for the same riding in the 1959 election, this time losing to Hryhorczuk by 266 votes. Burtniak backed Edward Schreyer for the provincial NDP leadership in 1969, and gave the nomination speech for Schreyer at the party's

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Politics of Canada, Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leadership, leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, ...

. He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1969 election, defeating former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Stewart McLean by 41 votes in Dauphin. He NDP formed a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

after this election, and Burtniak was appointed Minister of Tourism and Recreation on July 15, 1969. He was also given responsibility for the

Manitoba Telephone System Bell MTS Inc. (formerly Manitoba Telecom Services) is a subsidiary of BCE Inc. that operates telecommunications services in Manitoba. Originally established as Manitoba Government Telephones after the Government of Manitoba purchased the Manito ...

on August 4, 1970, and was given the second portfolio of Minister of Cultural Affairs on November 4, 1970. After a cabinet shuffle on December 1, 1971, he was named Minister of Highways, retaining responsibility for the MTS. Burtniak defeated Tory candidate Art Rampton by 999 votes in the 1973 election, and was retained as Highways Minister in the Schreyer government's second term. He was also given responsibility for the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation on September 22, 1976. The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1977, and Burtniak narrowly lost his seat to Tory candidate James Galbraith. He did not seek a return to politics after this time. He served as Vice-Chairman of the Manitoba Transport Board from 1982 to 1988. Burtniak died in Seven Oaks General Hospital in Winnipeg at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burtniak, Peter 1925 births 2004 deaths New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba