Gwen Charles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gwen Charles (born July 19, 1949 in Lindsay, Ontario[1]) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1988 to 1990, representing the riding of Selkirk for the Manitoba Liberal Party.[2]

The daughter of Allen Glover, she grew up in Belleville Ontario and began her career at the municipal level, serving as a councillor in the town of Selkirk. She married Garry James Gordon Charles in 1969.[1] Charles first ran for provincial office in the election of 1986, finishing third in the Selkirk riding with 1023 votes. At the time, the riding's MLA was New Democrat Howard Pawley, the provincial Premier.[3]

In early 1988, Pawley's government was unexpectedly defeated when disgruntled backbencher Jim Walding voted against his party's annual budget in an evenly divided legislature. Pawley stepped down as premier and did not run in the election which followed.[4] With the riding open, Charles was able to defeat NDP candidate Terry Sargeant by just 184 votes.[3]

The Liberals increased their parliamentary representation from one to twenty in this election, and Charles spent the next two years in the official opposition. In 1990, she supported Paul Martin for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Like many of her Liberal colleagues, she was defeated in the 1990 election[2] amid a general decline in support for her party (once again, she placed third behind the NDP and Progressive Conservative candidates).[3]

Gwen moved back to Ontario and built one of the first social enterprises, Pivotal Services of London, winning the Peter F. drunker Award for Innovation.

Elections[]

1986 Manitoba general election: Selkirk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Howard Pawley 5,135 54.93 -9.17
Progressive Conservative Eugene Kinaschuk 3,119 33.36 -1.05
Liberal Gwen Charles 1,023 10.94 n/a
Progressive Raye Porhownik 72 0.77 -0.72
Turnout 9,368 74.93 -0.10
New Democratic hold Swing -4.06
Source: Elections Manitoba[5]
1988 Manitoba general election: Selkirk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Gwen Charles 3,821 35.35 +24.41
New Democratic Terry Sargeant 3,637 33.64 -21.29
Progressive Conservative Eugene Kinaschuk 3,138 29.03 -4.33
Western Independence Ruth Van Koeveringe 214 1.98 n/a
Turnout 10,820 80.46 +5.53
Liberal gain from New Democratic Swing +22.85
Source: Elections Manitoba[6]
1990 Manitoba general election: Selkirk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Greg Dewar 3,735 36.58 +2.94
Progressive Conservative Russ Farrell 3,467 33.95 +4.92
Liberal Gwen Charles 3,009 29.47 -5.88
Turnout 10,242 74.44 -6.02
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing +4.41
Source: Elections Manitoba[7]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Normandin, Pierre G (1989). Canadian Parliamentary Guide.
  2. ^ a b "MLA Biographies - Living". The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  3. ^ a b c "Selkirk". Manitoba. CBC News.
  4. ^ "By One Vote: The Defeat of the Manitoba Government". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 12 (1). 1989. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  5. ^ "Historical Summary" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  6. ^ "Candidates: 34th General Election" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. April 26, 1988. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Historical Summary" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-11-30.
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