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A4 FREE PRESS, SATURDAY,OCTOBER 15,2011 REGALCOCK: 1948-2011 winnipegfreepress.com

HE SAID IT:Apolitician’ssoundbitesoveradecade

“It’sjustone more misrepresentation “You’d thinkbynow I’dknowbetter.” “It’salittlebit scary.Wehaveahuge “Frankly,ifIwas goingtorecruit made agambleand Ilost.” andcomplete distortion of reality.” —Rushingback from ateaching majorityand nowwehavealot of somebody I’dgoalittlehigherupthe —After losinghis seat to Tory MP Rod —Alcock, criticizingthe Mulroneygov- position at Harvardafteraprovincial work to do.” gene pool.” Bruinooge on Jan. 23,2006 ernment’sclaimsthe West wasgetting a election wassuddenlycalled, —After winning aseatasMPand —Dismissing claimsbyTory larger sliceofthe economic pie, Aug. 21,1990 watchinghis Liberalparty rack up a he hadoffered theMPanambassador- “Thisputsmeoncampuswithin an ex- April4,1989 majority victory over theReformparty, ship to increase Liberalchances of ceptionallytalentedfaculty andallows “It’sthe Liberalexperience in this Oct. 25,1993 surviving anon-confidence vote, me thetimetocontinuemyresearch “They’re tooarrogant andpigheaded.” province that nothingworth having May4,2005 on howpublic-sectormanagement —Criticizing Filmon government MLAs comeseasy.” “I thinkifhewants to servethe coun- must change to meet thechallengesof forwalking outofacommitteemeeting, —After getting theLiberal nodtorun try, theparty andhis ownlegacy, he “Iwas surprised. Ididn’tsee it com- arapidly changing community.” Oct. 4, 1989 forMPinWinnipegSouth by five votes, wouldbewisetostepdown.” ing. Imadeachoicetogoout and —After beinghired March22, 1993 —Callingfor PM Jean Chrétien to campaign in otherridings.Ispenttwo by theUniversityofManitoba, resign,Dec.17, 2002 days door-knockinginmyriding. I Jan.30, 2007 He knew when to threaten andcharm ‘Tough hombre’ an intellectual giant whoservedpublic

WAS with RegAlcockthe firsttimehebroke 100onagolfcourse. I It wasthe late 1990sand Alcock,thenstill abackbench MP,was having theround of his life. We hadplayedgolfquite abit when Iwas in forthree yearsasthe Free Press national correspondent, andhehad neverthreatenedthis magic threshold. An alarmingly lowpercent- ageofall golferseverbreak thecenturymark. Alcock seemed sure to join that group. On the18thtee of the CharleswoodGolfand CountryClub, Iscanned thescorecardand saw that he needed a10to shoot99. Theway he was playing, Ithoughtthatwas acomfortable cushion, so Isaidnothing.Right after he hithis fifthshotonthat finalhole —awayward DAN iron from thefairwaythat LETT foundthe bush —Itold him thesituation.Regrouping, he finished the hole in 10 strokes, andshot99. It wasthenthat KENGIGLIOTTI /WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Alcock,all 350 pounds of him,did alittlejig that Former Liberalcabinet ministerReg Alcock, seen here at theManitoba Open in 2007,was abrilliantand dedicated public servanttoManitobans andCanadians. Iwillsurelynever forget. It’s aspecial moment to sharewithafellow mons. He wasaneducatorwho taughtatboththe lishinghimself as aforce to be reckoned with. elected office,hedid notwilt. He insteadchan- golfer.WhatIremembermostwas howAlcock University of andatHarvard.Hewas Liberals will tell youheaccomplishedasmuchor nelled hisdedicationtopublicservice to educa- maintained hiscoolwhenhefound outhewas aconsultantwho travelledthroughout theworld moreinhis two-year stintasregionalministeras tion,teachinginnovativeMBA classes at theU perilously close to breaking themagic century talkingabout howtomakegovernmentmore most of those whocamebeforehim. of M’sAsper School of Business andlecturingat mark.Hedid notpanic,but rather put hiscon- accountable, moreefficient andmoremodern Andyet it wouldbewrong to sayAlcock’spol- Harvard’sKennedy School of Governance. siderableintellectualpowerstowork. Having through informationtechnology. itical careerwas aboutseizing andmaintaining More recently,hehad undertaken intensive watchedmanyagolferevaporateunder thepres- Thereare many people whobelievetruepublic power. He believed strongly in protectingthe en- research into theareaofpublic-sector board sure of reaching apersonalbest, it wasapretty servants cannot have politicalambition. Reg tire LiberalteaminManitoba,atrait notshared governance.Asubject fartoo arcane forthe amazingdisplay of composure. Alcock wasthe proofthatgoodmen canserve by some of thepreviousregionalGritministers. averagelegislator, Alcock hadfastbecomeone of That tale wouldcomeasnosurprisetothose thepublicand theirown ambition,and make the It is importanttonotethatwhenhewas thecountry’s leadingauthorities on howboards whoknewReg Alcock during hislife. Love him worldabetterplace. defeated in 2006,mostLiberalsbelieved it was of directorsingovernment-controlled entities or hate him or fear him,itwould be hard to find a As apartisanpolitician, Alcock wasa“tough because he didnot spendenough time defending should function.Inthe worldofpublicadminis- person whodid notrecognize him as an intellec- hombre”asone prominentManitoba Grit putit. hisown riding.After thedefeat, he admitted he tration, wheremoreand moreofwhatgovern- tual giant. He hadthe capacity to involve himself in just just didnot knockonenough doors, shakeenough ment does is controlled by Crownentities, that is Educated at SimonFraserand Harvard abouteverybody’sparty business,and made sure handsand make enough phonecalls in Winnipeg surely God’swork. universities,Alcockenjoyed severalentirely hisinfluence wasfelt. He wasatthe forefront Southtoturnbackthe Conservative surge. Why? RegAlcockwas abrilliant man. He wasa differentbut successful careers in hislife. He of thecampaigntodumpformerprime min- Because he wasout knocking on doors, shaking dedicatedpublicservant.Hehad visitedthe in- wasaformersuperintendentofthe SevenOaks isterJeanChrétienand replacehim with Paul handsand making phonecalls to shoreupthe ner sanctumsofpower,and cameout abetterand YouthCentre. He once ownedand operated the Martin.Heused charmtolurethose whocould campaigns of otherLiberalsinManitoba. moreenlightened man. Manitoba,and Canada, RoyalAlbertHotel in downtown Winnipeg.He be charmed, andthreatenedthose whoneeded Apolitical defeat likethatcan humble,even aresimply less withouthim. wasapoliticianelected to long termsinboththe an extrapush. He ultimately becameManitoba’s destroyaweakerman.Although it took time for Manitoba legislatureand federalHouse of Com- regionalministerinthe Martin cabinet,estab- Alcock to rationalizehis sudden departurefrom [email protected]

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YOU’RE INVITED Women’s History Month What’s Been Happening?

Wednesday,October 26, 2011 Have you been away fromthe Catholic Church? 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Perhaps hurting becauseofaCatholic experience? Please consider this an invitation to Aguest walks on the tightrope at Circus! Science Manitoba Legislative Building Under the Big Top at The Manitoba Museum rediscover therootsofour faith. TheScienceofthe Circus The theme of this year’s Government of Manitoba Consider coming homefor Christmas! Visitors to TheManitoba Museum will experiencethe thrills of the celebration is Women in the Arts: Artists Working circus with its new interactiveexhibition available until April 9,2012 for Social Change.Please join us as we honour the in AllowayHall. Circus! ScienceUnder the Big Top explores the many talented and creative women artists in our principles of sciencethat makethe circus fun. province. Guests can be partofthe showbywalking atightrope high above the ground,orbyharnessing themselves intothe Elastic Acrobatics For further information, or to RSVP no later than to perform tricks likeatrapezeartist. Friday, October 21, 2011, please contact Manitoba Other displays explain the sciencebehind swordswallowing and Status of Women at 204-945-6281 in Winnipeg or contortionism, as well as howangles,speed,gravity and air toll free 1-800-263-0234. resistanceare critical to safely landing ahuman cannonball. Guests CATHOLICSCOMING HOME can visit the food vendor carttolearn what acorn dog is made from Alight lunch will be served. and the secret to pink lemonade. SixMondays,7:00-9:00 pm,beginning 7November St.IgnatiusEducation Centre,925 Jessie TheWinnipeg Foundation made a$20,000 grant to support travelling exhibitions like Circus! at TheManitoba Museum.To learn RichardLebrun: 488-3835 –ParishOffice: 474-2351 moreabout the Foundation’s recent grants,visit www.wpgfdn.org and select‘Recent Grant Highlights’.

Foundation Feature is published everysecond Saturday with the generous supportofthe Winnipeg Free Press.

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