Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1981)

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Provincial General Election (1977) | Provincial General Election (1986) | All Provincial Elections

The Manitoba general election of 1981 was held on 17 November. The results were as follows:

Party	Leader	Votes	Seats
New Democratic	Howard Russell Pawley (1934-2015)	228,784	34
Progressive Conservative	Sterling Rufus Lyon (1927-2010)	211,602	23
Liberal	Doug Lauchlan	32,373	0
Manitoba Progressive	Sidney “Sid” Green	8,731	0
Independent	-	1,141	0
Communist	Paula Fletcher	261	0
Totals		482,892	57

The voting results for individual constituencies were as follows:

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes
Arthur	James Erwin “Jim” Downey	Progressive Conservative	5,468
	Earl Sterling	New Democratic	1,772
Assiniboia	Rurik “Ric” Nordman (1919-1996)	Progressive Conservative	4,006
	Max Melnyk	New Democratic	2,822
	Peter Moss	Liberal	817
	Fran Huck	Manitoba Progressive	378
Brandon East	Leonard Salusbury “Len” Evans (1929-2016)	New Democratic	4,941
	Garry Nowazek	Progressive Conservative	2,626
	Margaret Workman	Liberal	512
Brandon West	Henry Nelson Carroll (1937-2015)	New Democratic	5,069
	John Allen	Progressive Conservative	4,634
	David Campbell	Liberal	547
Burrows	Conrado De Regla “Conrad” Santos (1934-2016)	New Democratic	4,890
	Mary Shore	Progressive Conservative	1,384
	Ben Hanuschak	Manitoba Progressive	728
	Wayne Anderson	Liberal	617
	Paula Fletcher	Communist	144
Charleswood	Sterling Rufus Lyon (1927-2010)	Progressive Conservative	6,334
	Antonia Johanna “Toni” Vosters (1932-2019)	New Democratic	3,243
	Ken Brown	Liberal	969
	Demetre Mastoris	Manitoba Progressive	231
Churchill	Jay Marine Cowan (1946-2022)	New Democratic	2,247
	Mark Ingebrigtson	Progressive Conservative	883
	Andrew Kirkness	Liberal	266
	Doug MacLachlan	Manitoba Progressive	85
Crescentwood	Peter Fox (1921-1989)	New Democratic	5,333
	Scotty McVicar	Progressive Conservative	2,586
	Gail Ellen Stapon (1936-2015)	Liberal	309
	Josephine Young	Manitoba Progressive	306
	Bob Fraser	Independent	221
Dauphin	John Stuart Plohman	New Democratic	4,680
	James Gordon “Jim” Galbraith	Progressive Conservative	4,044
	Bob Hawkins	Liberal	1,049
Ellice	Brian Mark Corrin	New Democratic	4,233
	Gavin Scott	Progressive Conservative	1,712
	Rod Cantiveros	Liberal	782
	Adam Klym	Manitoba Progressive	222
	Bart Monaco	Independent	56
Elmwood	Russell John “Russ” Doern (1935-1987)	New Democratic	5,140
	Eveline Holtmann	Progressive Conservative	1,910
	Eric Wood	Liberal	347
	Curtis Bloodworth	Manitoba Progressive	181
Emerson	Albert Driedger (1936-2011)	Progressive Conservative	4,376
	Paul Dupuis	New Democratic	4,020
	Steven Zaretski	Liberal	308
	Jack Thiessen	Manitoba Progressive	116
Flin Flon	Jerry Storie	New Democratic	3,557
	Bob McNeil	Progressive Conservative	2,126
Fort Garry	Louis Ralph “Bud” Sherman (1926-2015)	Progressive Conservative	6,227
	Hans Wittich	New Democratic	3,705
	Lil Haus	Liberal	1,042
	James Goodridge	Manitoba Progressive	203
Fort Rouge	Roland Penner (1924-2018)	New Democratic	4,342
	Perry Schulman	Progressive Conservative	2,843
	June Alwyn Westbury (1921-2004)	Liberal	2,415
	Joseph Russell “Bud” Boyce (1924-1984)	Manitoba Progressive	143
Gimli	John M. Bucklaschuk	New Democratic	4,825
	Keith Alan Cosens (1932-1990)	Progressive Conservative	3,995
	Allan Chambers	Liberal	276
	Pat Bazan	Manitoba Progressive	127
Gladstone	Charlotte Louise Kingdon Oleson (1932-2017)	Progressive Conservative	4,447
	Irvin Joel	New Democratic	1,650
	Alex Suderman	Liberal	737
Inkster	Don Scott	New Democratic	6,283
	Bill Dueck	Progressive Conservative	1,561
	Sidney “Sid” Green	Manitoba Progressive	783
	Myroslaw Tracz	Liberal	364
Interlake	William “Bill” Uruski	New Democratic	4,599
	Neil Dueck	Progressive Conservative	2,181
	Bob Lundale	Liberal	372
Kildonan	Mary Elisabeth Brugger Dolin (1936-1985)	New Democratic	6,794
	Ken Galanchuk	Progressive Conservative	4,478
	Alex Berkowits	Liberal	755
	Dan Tokarz	Manitoba Progressive	300
Kirkfield Park	Geraldine Rose “Gerrie” Hammond (?-1992)	Progressive Conservative	6,443
	Lee Monk	New Democratic	3,551
Lac du Bonnet	Samuel “Sam” Uskiw (1933-2011)	New Democratic	4,682
	Berton Trainor	Progressive Conservative	2,809
Lakeside	Harry John Enns (1931-2010)	Progressive Conservative	5,055
	Larry Verner Moldowan (1940-2013)	New Democratic	2,630
	Bill Ridgeway	Liberal	592
	Hugh McCaw	Manitoba Progressive	107
La Verendrye	Robert David Banman	Progressive Conservative	4,418
	Jim Henry	New Democratic	1,149
	Alphonse Fornier	Manitoba Progressive	704
Logan	Maureen Lucille Miller Hemphill	New Democratic	3,759
	Stephen H. “Steve” Juba (1914-1993)	Independent	700
	Aurèle J. LeClaire (1963-2020)	Progressive Conservative	659
	Art Potvin	Manitoba Progressive	103
Minnedosa	David Blake	Progressive Conservative	4,160
	Gary Grant	New Democratic	3,397
Morris	Clayton Sidney Manness	Progressive Conservative	4,579
	Peter Francis	New Democratic	1,821
Niakwa	Abe Kovnats (1928-1996)	Progressive Conservative	5,432
	Lloyd Schreyer	New Democratic	4,736
	Douglas Biggs	Liberal	1,345
Osborne	Muriel Ann Lipsey Smith	New Democratic	5,371
	Ben Lindsey	Progressive Conservative	2,726
	Fraser Dunford	Liberal	1,262
	George Buss	Manitoba Progressive	165
Pembina	Donald Warder “Don” Orchard	Progressive Conservative	6,361
	Jeff Taylor	New Democratic	862
	Ken Popkes	Liberal	696
	John Brooks	Manitoba Progressive	274
Portage la Prairie	Lloyd George “Jiggs” Hyde (1920-1985)	Progressive Conservative	3,620
	Audrey Evelyn Bowley Tufford (1919-2006)	New Democratic	2,413
	Hugh Moran	Liberal	1,601
Radisson	Gerard Lecuyer	New Democratic	6,108
	George Provost	Progressive Conservative	2,566
	Joel Morassutti	Manitoba Progressive	376
Rhineland	Arnold Brown	Progressive Conservative	4,116
	Ralph William Eisbrenner (1918-2012)	New Democratic	1,181
	Jacob M. “Jake” Froese (1917-2003)	Manitoba Progressive	349
Riel	Doreen Dodick	New Democratic	4,362
	Donald William Craik (1931-1985)	Progressive Conservative	4,120
	John Karasevich	Liberal	1,087
	Dino Kostis	Manitoba Progressive	98
River East	Phil Eyler	New Democratic	5,949
	Harold Piercy	Progressive Conservative	5,903
	Shirley Cecilia Wolechuk (1926-2015)	Liberal	259
	Lindsay Ulrich	Manitoba Progressive	177
River Heights	Warren J. Steen (1940-2009)	Progressive Conservative	4,905
	David McNichol Sanders (1947-2016)	New Democratic	3,217
	Jay Prober	Liberal	2,526
	Janet Beatrice Lundman (1930-2024)	Manitoba Progressive	142
Roblin-Russell	James Wallace “Wally” McKenzie (1914-1999)	Progressive Conservative	4,508
	Zane Wonitoway	New Democratic	3,673
Rossmere	Victor Harold “Vic” Schroeder	New Democratic	5,776
	Ian Sutherland	Progressive Conservative	4,293
	Bill deJong	Liberal	389
	Merv Unger	Manitoba Progressive	142
Rupertsland	Elijah Harper (1949-2013)	New Democratic	3,032
	Allan Ross	Liberal	1,004
	Nelson Scribe	Progressive Conservative	272
	Frances Thompson	Manitoba Progressive	56
St. Boniface	Laurent Louis “Larry” Desjardins (1923-2012)	New Democratic	5,844
	Guy Marcel Savoie (1934-2023)	Liberal	1,925
	Wes Rowson	Progressive Conservative	1,346
	Don Forsyth	Manitoba Progressive	106
St. James	Alvin H. "Al" Mackling	New Democratic	5,376
	Clement George Minaker (1937-2012)	Progressive Conservative	4,597
	Harvey Norbas	Manitoba Progressive	180
St. Johns	Donald Marto Malinowski (1924-2003)	New Democratic	4,004
	Don Cilinsky	Progressive Conservative	1,785
	Henry Kozlowski	Liberal	674
	Bernie Bellan	Manitoba Progressive	446
	William Cecil Ross (c1911-1998)	Communist	117
St. Norbert	Gerald W. Mercier	Progressive Conservative	5,728
	Ruth Pear	New Democratic	3,826
	Grant Temple	Liberal	857
	Allan Yap	Manitoba Progressive	216
Ste. Rose	Aimé Rawleigh “Pete” Adam (1913-2009)	New Democratic	4,031
	Ivan Llewellyn Traill (1932-2022)	Progressive Conservative	3,823
	Valerie Wilson	Manitoba Progressive	194
St. Vital	Derek James “Jim” Walding (1937-2007)	New Democratic	5,504
	John Robertson	Progressive Conservative	4,236
	Gord Patterson	Liberal	684
Selkirk	Howard Russell Pawley (1934-2015)	New Democratic	5,626
	Eugene Kinaschuk	Progressive Conservative	3,020
	Max Hofford	Manitoba Progressive	131
Seven Oaks	Eugene Michael Kostyra (1947-2020)	New Democratic	6,127
	Al Christie	Progressive Conservative	2,179
	Wayne Glowacki	Liberal	486
	Morley Golden	Manitoba Progressive	367
Springfield	Andrue John “Andy” Anstett	New Democratic	5,303
	Bob Anderson	Progressive Conservative	4,833
	Peter Sanderson	Liberal	327
	Dennis Sweatman	Manitoba Progressive	113
Sturgeon Creek	John Franklin “Frank” Johnston (1929-2017)	Progressive Conservative	5,546
	Robert Adams	New Democratic	3,253
	John Epp	Liberal	732
Swan River	Douglas MacLeod “Doug” Gourlay	Progressive Conservative	3,884
	Leonard Harapiak	New Democratic	3,615
	George Simpson	Manitoba Progressive	138
The Pas	Harry Myrislaw Harapiak (1938-2000)	New Democratic	4,236
	Percy Pielak	Progressive Conservative	1,303
	Laverne Jaeb	Liberal	509
Thompson	Steve Ashton	New Democratic	2,890
	Ken MacMaster	Progressive Conservative	2,818
	Cy Hennessey	Liberal	138
Transcona	Wilson Dwight Peter Parasiuk	New Democratic	6,013
	Stephania Jo Lopuck (1923-2021)	Progressive Conservative	2,269
	Albert Smaczylo	Manitoba Progressive	120
Turtle Mountain	Alan Brian Ransom (1940-2020)	Progressive Conservative	4,775
	Joan Johannson	New Democratic	1,660
	Bill Harrison	Independent	164
Tuxedo	Gary Albert Filmon	Progressive Conservative	6,731
	Terri Gray	New Democratic	2,433
	Bev McCaffrey	Liberal	1,257
Virden	Henry Edward “Harry” Graham (1921-2006)	Progressive Conservative	5,059
	Maude Lelond	New Democratic	2,859
Wolseley	Myrna Phillips	New Democratic	4,370
	Leonard Anthony “Len” Domino	Progressive Conservative	2,904
	Doug Lauchlan	Liberal	1,539
	Murdoch MacKay (1930-2023)	Manitoba Progressive	224

See also:

Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial By-Elections (1984-1985)

Memorable Manitobans: Members of the Thirty-Second Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (1982-1986)

Sources:

“Manitoba voters have spoken,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 November 1981, page 18.

Historical Summaries, ElectionsManitoba.

Obituary [Audrey Evelyn Tufford], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 January 2006.

Obituary [Shirley Cecilia Wolechuk], Winnipeg Free Press, 2 February 2015.

Obituary [Antonia Johanna Vosters], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 May 2019.

Obituary [Aurèle J. LeClaire], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 August 2020.

Obituary [Stephania Jo Lopuck], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 March 2021.

Obituary [Janet Beatrice Lundman], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 April 2024.

We thank Oliver Bernuetz (Legislative Library of Manitoba) for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 20 April 2025