George Johnson (Manitoba politician)

George Johnson (Manitoba politician)

George Johnson, OC (November 18, 1920 - July 8, 1995) was a medical doctor and is seen by historians as one of the leading political reformers of the twentieth century in Manitoba. He served as a Cabinet Minister in the governments of Dufferin Roblin and Walter Weir and as the province's Lieutenant-Governor from 1986 to 1993.

Dr. Johnson was born in Winnipeg, to a family of Icelandic heritage. He received a B.Sc. and M.D. from the University of Manitoba and served as a Lieutenant (later, Captain) with the Royal Canadian Navy from 1941-1945.

Dr. Johnson was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1958, for the riding of Gimli, north of Winnipeg. A Progressive Conservative, he was appointed Minister of Health and Public Welfare in the minority government of Dufferin Roblin, who had personally recruited him to run for the party. He retained the health portfolio when the Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in 1959, and oversaw a policy of major hospital expansions in the province and other significant reforms between 1959 and 1963.

On December 9, 1963, Dr. Johnson moved to the Ministry of Education as the government sought to cope with the educational requirements of a rapidly expanding baby-boom population. He held this position until September 24, 1968, and was responsible for, among other achievements, the establishment of the universities of Winnipeg and Brandon, respectively, and the Manitoba Institute of Technology (later 'Red River Community College'), and for introducing the policy of "shared services" for public and separate schools (allowing children in separate schools to access public programs for busing, textbooks and the like). In 1968, Dr. Johnson returned to his old portfolio as Minister of Health, to oversee an historic change in the provision of medical services: the implementation of medicare in Manitoba.

Ideologically, Dr. Johnson was a progressive, often referred to as (somewhat erroneously) a Red Tory with beliefs similar to those held by Premier Roblin. Along with Roblin, he is considered by historians to be the leading political reformer of his generation and among the most influential cabinet ministers in Manitoba history. Although generally a free marketeer, Dr. Johnson supported government intervention in the economy in certain areas, for example, in such areas as public utility management, education, major infrastructure projects and certain medical services. When Roblin shifted to federal politics in 1967, Dr. Johnson was the only candidate from the Progressive Conservative Party's progressive wing to seek its leadership. A late entry into the leadership race hurt his campaign and while he was the alternative choice for leader among many delegates, the fact that Dr. Johnson did not survive to the later balloting prevented him from emerging as the possible compromise choice for party leader among delegates.

Dr. Johnson did not seek re-election in 1969, and returned to medical practice in Winnipeg. An experienced physician, within a few years he had one of the largest medical practices in Manitoba. Leaving medicine again for the public arena in 1978, Johnson served for the subsequent eight years as a special consultant to the Manitoba government, providing strategic advice and counsel to the government in various areas of health policy. On December 11, 1986, in "recognition of his services to the people of Manitoba", he was appointed as the province's Lieutenant-Governor by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé, on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. He served in this position until March 5, 1993. In his career, the governments of Canada and Iceland conferred on Dr. Johnson the highest civilian honours that can be bestowed on their respective citizens: the Order of Canada in 1994, and the Icelandic Order of the Falcon in 1992. He was also awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from three universities: Manitoba, Winnipeg and Royal Roads (1992-95).

Dr. Johnson died in 1995. His wife, the former Doris Blondal, died in 1996. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson had six children: Janis, Jennifer, Daniel, Jon, Jo Ann and Gillian, and ten grandchildren: Stefan, Aidan, Katherine, Elizabeth, Ciara, Stefanie, Sarah, Kristine, Max and Benedict.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • George Armstrong (Manitoba politician) — George Armstrong (April 17, 1870 1956) was a politician and labour activist in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1920 to 1922, and is notable as the only member of the Socialist Party of Canada ever to serve …   Wikipedia

  • George Johnson — may refer to:In politics*George Johnson (English politician) (1626 ndash;1683), Member of Parliament for Devizes 1669 ndash;1679 *George Johnson (Manitoba politician) (1920 ndash;1995), Manitoba Lieutenant Governor *George William Johnson… …   Wikipedia

  • James Johnson (Manitoba politician) — James Johnson (November 18, 1855 1929) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1897 to 1915, as a member of the Conservative Party. Johnson was a cabinet minister in the government of Hugh John …   Wikipedia

  • George William Johnson (politician) — George William Johnson (July 10, 1892 in Stratford, Ontario – April 26, 1973) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1959 to 1962, representing the Winnipeg riding of Assiniboia for the… …   Wikipedia

  • George William McDonald — (November 20, 1875 ?) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1915 to 1922 as a member of the Manitoba Liberal Party, and later sat in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1940 as a… …   Wikipedia

  • Manitoba general election, 1988 — The Manitoba general election of April 26, 1988 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It resulted in a minority government. The Progressive Conservative Party won 25 seats, against 20 for the… …   Wikipedia

  • Gimli, Manitoba — Infobox Settlement official name = Rural Municipality of Gimli, Manitoba other name = native name = nickname = motto = imagesize = image caption = Gimli harbour in October flag size = image seal size = image shield = shield size = image blank… …   Wikipedia

  • Social Credit candidates, 1953 Manitoba provincial election — The Manitoba Social Credit Party ran 43 candidates in the 1953 Manitoba election, two of whom were elected. Some of these candidates are individual biography pages. Information about others may be found here. The 1953 Manitoba election was… …   Wikipedia

  • List of University of Manitoba alumni — Some of the University of Manitoba s most notable alumni include: Izzy Asper, tax lawyer media magnate (BA 1953, LLB 1957, LLM 1964)[1] William Moore Benidickson, former MP, federal cabinet minister and senator[2] Richard Spink Bowles, lawyer and …   Wikipedia

  • List of Iceland-related articles — For a topical list, see List of basic Iceland topics Articles (arranged alphabetically) related to Iceland include: NOTOC 1 9 1. deild karla 101 Reykjavík 12 Tónar 1924 28 Nordic Football Championship 1929 32 Nordic Football Championship 1933 36… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”