31-640: Norquay can refer to several places named for John Norquay , former Premier of Manitoba, Canada Norquay (electoral district) - federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada Mount Norquay - mountain in Alberta, Canada Mount Norquay ski resort - ski resort in Alberta, Canada John Norquay Elementary School - school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Norquay, Saskatchewan Topics referred to by
62-535: A hung parliament , with Davis's support coming primarily from French-speaking constituencies. Davis knew that he would be unable to govern effectively without strong British representation, and invited Norquay to join his cabinet in March 1875. Norquay accepted, and brought with him enough parliamentary support to ensure the ministry's continued survival. Norquay was a prominent minister in the Davis administration, and it
93-479: A Canadian province, a title which is now honourarily held by Louis Riel . Norquay came from an Anglo-Métis ethnic background (the contemporary term used was " half-breed ", which was not then considered offensive and is even an important constitutional designation, given the rights afforded to them in the Manitoba Act of 1870). He was educated by Church of England bishop, David Anderson , and worked as
124-609: A Liberal opposition. Formal party government would not arrive until 1888, but a functional two-party system was already in place. Although John A. Macdonald was sometimes disparaging of Norquay in private correspondence, he supported the Norquay ministry for most of its nine years in power. Macdonald took Norquay's side in a boundary dispute with Ontario , and personally visited Manitoba in 1886 to ensure Norquay's re-election on December 9 of that year: Norquay's Conservatives won about 21 seats, compared to 14 for Greenway's Liberals with
155-696: A coherent local opposition began to form around Thomas Greenway , whose "Provincial Rights" group would soon become the Manitoba Liberal Party . These developments brought Norquay into a reluctant alliance with the province's Conservative establishment (which had opposed him only three years earlier). While Norquay still claimed to be non-partisan, his MLAs were recognized as the de facto Conservative Party within Manitoba. In Manitoba's fifth election (January 23, 1883), "Liberal-Conservative" and "Conservative" candidates won 19 of 30 seats between them; all were regarded as Norquay supporters, set against
186-530: A new ministry. Greenway's Liberals won a landslide victory on July 11, 1888 . Norquay was narrowly re-elected in Kildonan , defeating Liberal Duncan McArthur by 305 votes to 303. He once again became leader of the opposition, but with a much reduced political base: he was now opposed by John A. Macdonald, distrusted by other Manitoba Conservatives, lacking in popular support, and suffering personal financial hardship. He died on July 5, 1889, without having attained
217-619: A premier) lost a vote of confidence in July 1874, after Norquay's electoral redistribution bill met with opposition from both English and French MLAs. Norquay did not serve in the cabinet of Marc-Amable Girard (1874), nor was he called into the first cabinet of Robert A. Davis (1874–1878). In Manitoba's second election (December 30, 1874), he was a leader of the opposition; running in St. Andrew's South , he defeated former Girard minister Edward Henry Hay by 67 votes to 34. The 1874 election resulted in
248-584: A prominent lay member of the Church of England in Manitoba. Beginning in 1875, he was regularly elected as a representative to the synod of the Diocese of Rupert's Land . It may be added that Norquay's career was relatively free of racial prejudice. He was the victim of some racial slurs (Legislative Councilor Donald Gunn once referred to him as "Greasy John"), but his longevity in office suggests that Manitobans were willing to accept an aboriginal premier, despite
279-405: A reversal in his fortunes. Despite the tragedy of his last years, Norquay was generally successful in developing Manitoba during his time in office. Between his first election in 1870 and his resignation in 1887, the population of Manitoba had grown tenfold; as Premier, Norquay was responsible for expanding government services accordingly. In addition to his political career, John Norquay was also
310-486: A teacher, farmer, and fur trader during the 1860s. Norquay played only a minor role in the events of Louis Riel 's Red River Rebellion (1869–70), but decided to enter public life shortly thereafter. He was acclaimed for the riding of High Bluff in Manitoba's first general election (December 27, 1870), and soon became a leader in the " mixed-blood " community. In 1871, Manitoba's parliamentary opposition agitated for
341-491: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages John Norquay John Norquay (May 8, 1841 – July 5, 1889) was the fifth premier of Manitoba from 1878 to 1887. He was born near St. Andrews in what was then the Red River Colony , making him the first premier of Manitoba to have been born in the region. Norquay was also the first Indigenous Premier of
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#1732783232276372-683: The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which had a guaranteed 20-year monopoly on "western travel" through the area (some historians have argued that the "local service lines" were a financial impossibility to begin with). Although Norquay initially gave tepid support to these local efforts, the opposition accused him (probably correctly) of having made a secret deal with the CPR and John A. Macdonald , Canadian prime minister , to ensure that they never came to fruition. When Macdonald disallowed Norquay's half-hearted railway legislation in 1882,
403-457: The 1872 federal election as dual mandates had been abolished. Had the Liberals won the election, he likely would have been offered the position of Prime Minister of Canada . The party had no formal leader as such until 1873 when Alexander Mackenzie was given the title after Blake declined due to ill health. Blake was ill during much of the 1872 campaign, and it was Mackenzie who essentially led
434-440: The 19th century, Norquay devoted much of his attention to railway development. As a result, he was compelled to walk a thin line between local and federal alliances; eventually, his inability to successfully navigate this course led to his downfall. During the 1880s, many entrepreneurs in Manitoba tried to develop local rail lines to reduce transportation costs. Although popular with farmers and merchants, these plans were opposed by
465-625: The Liberal campaign in Ontario, though not outside the province. The 1872 general election was the first to include the new provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia , which had both joined Canada after the Confederation of 1867. By-elections had been held in both provinces to elect Members of Parliament in the newly created ridings, with Manitoba receiving four seats and British Columbia six. (In 1870 Canada had also expanded to include
496-515: The Liberals. The election produced the country's first minority government . The support of two independent Conservative MPs functionally gave Macdonald an extremely slim majority that allowed it to survive for two years, until it fell due to scandal. Edward Blake , who had a seat in both the House of Commons of Canada and the Ontario legislature , resigned as Premier of Ontario in order to run in
527-879: The current provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Territories, but no MPs were elected there until 1887.) In 1873, PEI joined Confederation and six more seats were added to the House of Commons, all filled by acclamations in by-elections. Most of the ridings in this election elected just one member through First past the post , except for the ridings of: Ottawa, Victoria, the City and County of St. John, Cape Breton, Pictou, Hamilton, and Halifax; which elected two members, with each voter casting up to two votes (Plurality block voting). Note: Though identifying themselves as Liberal-Conservatives, these MPs and those identifying as Conservatives were both led by Sir John A. Macdonald (himself
558-535: The need for conciliation, and soon convinced former premier, Marc-Amable Girard , to rejoin cabinet as provincial secretary. Norquay would later argue that his "anti-French" ministry was an unpleasant political necessity. The Norquay-Girard government won a new mandate on December 16, 1879 , with Norquay re-elected by acclamation in the riding of St. Andrew's. In terms of the legislation it promoted, Norquay's ministry may be described as interventionist but not particularly ambitious. Like many other Canadian politicians in
589-475: The new Ontario settlers (not to be confused with the man of the same name executed by Louis Riel ) in 1870. Royal and Scott wanted to bring formal party politics to Manitoba; both were Conservatives, and Scott believed that he was best positioned to become the leader of a provincial Conservative Party . Norquay was also affiliated with the federal Conservatives, but relied on support from local Liberals to keep his government intact. Accordingly, he wanted to preserve
620-584: The popular vote almost evenly split. Without Macdonald's visit, Norquay probably would have been defeated. Norquay's alliance with Macdonald ended in the summer of 1887, when the provincial government reversed its previous policy and actively promoted the Red River Valley Railway, a local line meant to link Winnipeg with the Canada–United States border . Macdonald and the CPR would both play leading roles in Norquay's downfall later in
651-508: The province's "non-partisan" character. Norquay countered the Royal-Scott "coup attempt" by forging a new parliamentary alliance with all of the province's British MLAs (except Scott), and expelling his French Canadian ministers from cabinet. This reconstituted ministry then sought to pass a variety of bills which were detrimental to Francophone interests. Norquay did not follow through on the worst of his ministry's threats. He recognized
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#1732783232276682-423: The removal of Alfred Boyd , the provincial secretary . When this opposition became impossible to ignore, he resigned. In withdrawing from office, Boyd suggested that someone from Manitoba's "mixed-blood" community be called to cabinet in his place (Manitoba's government was balanced along ethnic, religious and linguistic lines in this period, but British "mixed-bloods" had been left out of the first cabinet). Norquay
713-410: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Norquay . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norquay&oldid=577920270 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
744-474: The support of Joseph Royal . Royal was an ultramontane Catholic and the undisputed leader of the Francophone parliamentary bloc. Like Norquay, he had been a prominent minister in the Davis administration (in fact, he had often referred it as the "Davis-Royal" administration). Now, he sought to forge a new parliamentary alliance with opposition leader Thomas Scott , an Orangeman and a leading figure among
775-569: The tensions caused by Louis Riel's rebellions. In 1904, Mount Norquay in Banff National Park was named after him. Norquay attempted to climb the mountain in 1887 or 1888 but contrary to some reports, did not reach the summit. Poor health and route difficulties presented by the mountain were the likely reasons for not reaching the top. 1872 Canadian federal election John A. Macdonald Conservative John A. Macdonald Conservative The 1872 Canadian federal election
806-449: The year. Due to the opposition of Macdonald and the C.P.R., Norquay's government became delinquent on payments for the construction of the Red River Valley Railway. As a result, Norquay's government was sued by prominent Canadian railway magnate Hugh Ryan , whose firm H. & J. Ryan was awarded the contract for the Red River Valley Railway. The scandal further contributed to Norquay's growing image problem amongst his constituents and
837-421: Was accordingly called to serve as Minister of Public Works and Minister of Agriculture . While still serving as a provincial cabinet minister, Norquay attempted to enter federal politics in the general election of 1872 . Running in the riding of Marquette , he was defeated by Robert Cunningham , an ally of Louis Riel. He would not run for federal office again. Manitoba's first government (which did not have
868-528: Was held from July 20 to October 12, 1872, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 2nd Parliament of Canada . Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald 's Conservative Party remained in power, defeating the Liberals . However, the Liberals increased their parliamentary representation considerably, while the Conservative seat count remained static, giving them only six more seats than
899-475: Was not a surprise when he was called to replace Davis as Premier in November 1878 (he also took the office of Provincial Treasurer ). He sought a new mandate on December 18, 1878 , and was re-elected with the support of 14-17 MLAs (out of 24). Norquay faced a tough challenge in his own constituency from one John Allan, but won by 62 votes to 54. In early 1879, Norquay faced a more serious challenge after losing
930-401: Was sealed when Macdonald disallowed the transfer of CPR land to Manitoba, after Norquay's government had already paid $ 256,000 to the company in compensation. Norquay was abandoned by his ministers, and resigned on December 23, 1887. His successor, David H. Harrison , unsuccessfully tried to keep Norquay's governing alliance together for another month; after this, Greenway was called upon to form
961-410: Was worsened when the courts sided with Ryan; with Ryan being awarded $ 50,000 for unpaid work (the equivalent of $ 1.6 million in 2024). In September 1887, the Norquay government was accused of using trust funds for Métis children as general revenue. Norquay himself faced extreme pressure to resign, particularly after a tour of eastern cities for railway loans ended without success. His ministry's fate