JUST ONE VOTE This page intentionally left blank JUST ONE VOTE From Jim Walding’s Nomination to Constitutional Defeat IAN STEWART University of Manitoba Press © Ian Stewart 2009 University of Manitoba Press Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2M5 Canada www.umanitoba.ca/uofmpress Printed in Canada on acid-free paper. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the University of Manitoba Press, or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from ACCESS COPYRIGHT (Canada Copyright Licensing Agency), 6 Adelaide Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1H6. Cover design: Doowah Design Text design: Relish Design Studio Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Stewart, Ian, 1953– Just one vote : from Jim Walding’s nomination to constitutional defeat / Ian Stewart. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-88755-711-8 1. Walding, Jim. 2. New Democratic Party of Manitoba—Officials and employees—Selection and appointment—History. 3. Manitoba— Politics and government—1977–1988. 4. Manitoba–Politics and government—1988–1999. 5. Politicians–Manitoba–Biography. I. Title. FC3378.2.S74 2009 971.27’03 C2008-907936-1 The University of Manitoba Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support for its publication program provided by the Federal Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP), the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage, and Tourism. Contents List of Tables viii List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgements xi 1: INTRODUCTION 1 2: THE SETTING 11 3: THE INCUMBENT 27 4: THE CAMPAIGN 67 5: THE VOTE 97 6: THE AFTERMATH 123 7: THE FALLOUT 163 8: CONCLUSION 199 Appendix A: LIST OF INTERVIEWEES 211 Appendix B: CORRESPONDENCE 213 Howard Pawley to Jim Walding, 21 February 1984 Jim Walding to Howard Pawley, 21 February 1984 Jim Walding, Appeal for Support, 4 October 1985 Jim Walding, Appeal for Support, 17 October 1985 Gerri Unwin, Appeal for Support, November 1985 Jim Walding, Appeal for Support, December 1985 (I) Jim Walding, Appeal for Support, December 1985 (II) Sig Laser, Appeal for Support, 4 January 1986 Jim Walding, Letter of Resignation from Speakership, 16 January 1986 Jim Walding to St. Vital New Democrats, [January?] 1986 Jim Walding to Howard Pawley, 3 April 1986 Jim Walding to Frances Russell, 21 April 1986 Marty Dolin to Members of St. Vital Executive, 28 April 1987 Jim Walding to Marty Dolin, 4 May 1987 Sig Laser to Marty Dolin, 7 May 1987 Jay Cowan to Howard Pawley, 2 March 1988 Gary Filmon to Jim Walding, 7 March 1988 Notes 237 Bibliography 271 Index 277 For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want Of a horseshoe nail. —English Nursery Rhyme List of Tables Table 1 Electoral Support in St. Boniface/St. Vital, 1920 to 1969 Table 2 ILP/CCF/NDP Support in St. Boniface/St. Vital and Manitoba, 1920 to 1969 Table 3 NDP Support in St. Vital, East and West of St. Mary’s Road, 1966 Table 4 Impact of Redistribution on St. Vital, 1981 Table 5 St. Vital Campaign Expenditures, 1973 to 1981 Table 6 St. Vital Memberships Sold by Sig Laser, Gerri Unwin, and Jim Walding Table 7 St. Vital Vote Breakdown, 1986 and 1988 List of Illustrations Figure 1 Manitoba’s Political Diagonal Figure 2 Greater Winnipeg and St. Vital, 1966 Figure 3 St. Vital after Redistribution, 1981 Figure 4 Distribution of Gerri Unwin’s Core Supporters, 1986 Figure 5 Political Cartoon, Winnipeg Sun, 22 October 1985 Figure 6 Unused Ballots from 12 January 1986 Nominating Meeting Figure 7 Jim Walding, Press Release, 29 April 1986 Figure 8 Political Cartoon, Winnipeg Sun, 13 March 1987 Following Page 122 1. Jim Walding at Election Victory Party, 1971. Winnipeg Tribune, 6 April 1971. 2. Jim Walding Campaign Pamphlet, 1973. 3. Jim Walding and Ed Schreyer, from Jim Walding Campaign Pamphlet, 1977. 4. Howard Pawley with his wife Adele after winning the NDP leadership in 1979. 5. Jim Walding Campaign Pamphlet, 1981. 6. Jim Walding, Speaker’s Portrait. 7. Sig Laser Campaign Pamphlet, 1985. 8. The three candidates: Gerri Unwin, Sig Laser, and Jim Walding. Winnipeg Sun, 12 January 1986. 9. An anxious Jim Walding, together with wife Val (right) and supporter Elizabeth Dotremont, awaits results of second ballot at St. Vital NDP nominating meeting on 12 January 1986. 10. Jim Walding remains seated when members of the legislature are asked to stand to vote against a non-confidence motion on the Pawley government’s budget, 8 March 1988. 11. Jim Walding, on 11 March 1988, meets reporters for the first time after the non-confidence vote. Credits and Permissions Plates 1, 4 courtesy University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, Tribune Collection (UMASC). Figure 7, Plates 2–3, 5 courtesy Archives of Manitoba (AM), Jim Walding Papers. Plate 6 courtesy Archives of Manitoba, Government Photograph, Jim Walding (82-3180) (Z-8-2-7-6). Plate 7 courtesy Sig Laser, personal papers. Figures 5, 8, Plate 8 courtesy Sun Media Corpora- tion (SMC). Plates 9–11 courtesy Winnipeg Free Press. Acknowledgements HAVE LONG BEEN FASCINATED by the fall of the Manitoba government on 8 March 1988. As will become apparent, the event had a highly theatrical Iquality. Jim Walding’s decision that day to vote against his government’s budget was the climax of a complex human drama guaranteed to grab the at- tention of even a casual political voyeur. This was, however, more than just an entrancing spectacle. It also highlighted the (not unrelated) significance of agency and of contingency, forces which, for entirely understandable reasons, political scientists have tended to downplay in their explanatory accounts. In 1993, I undertook a brief exploration of the topic, but did not return to it full-time until 2005 when, thanks to a grant from the Acadia University Research Fund (Article 25.55) and the on-site encouragement of David Stewart, I spent a month ensconced in a Winnipeg motel. Thereafter, I found it impossible not to work steadily on the project. I am grateful to Acadia University, my academic home for the past quarter-century, for granting me the sabbatical leave in which to write this book, and to Bob Perrins, Dean of Arts, for funds to secure copyright releases. I am also grateful to Danielle Fraser, our departmental secretary, for efficiently dealing with any and all problems I indiscriminately passed her way. I must also thank Jude Carlson, Wayne Copeland, Brenda Deamel, Patrick Fortier, Bill Reid, Irene Rossman, Paul Williamson, and David Woodbury of the Manitoba NDP, Paul Black of the Nova Scotia NDP, Lorna Miner of the St. Vital Historical Society, Rob Derksen of the Manitoba Civil Service Superannuation Board, Maggie Buttrum and Mary Skanderburg of Elections Manitoba, and all the staff at the Archives of JUST ONE VOTE Manitoba for going well out of their way to help an inquisitive academic. Thanks, as well, to Erica Sigurdson and Fraser Stewart for some last-minute research assistance, and to Paul Thomas and two anonymous referees for their insightful suggestions. I am grateful to David Carr, Glenn Bergen, and Cheryl Miki at the University of Manitoba Press, who made the production of this book such a pleasurable experience. Particular thanks are due to all the New Democrats of St. Vital (but especially Jim and Val Walding, Sig and Tannis Laser, and Gerri and Fred Unwin) who, with both grace and generos- ity, took me into their homes and patiently suffered my questions about long-ago events that many would just as soon have forgotten. I have tried in this account faithfully to represent their values, interests, and beliefs; if I have failed, the fault is mine alone. This book was, for the most part, written during six months in Italy and four months in Malta. Many thanks are owed to Dr. Laura Ferri and Dr. Bianca Mancini of the Centro Siena-Toronto and to Dr. Isabelle Calleja of the Univer- sity of Malta for providing a stimulating and supportive atmosphere in which to work. Thanks, as well, to Fred Eaglesmith who made pleasurable the daily transposition from longhand to typescript. Writing about Canada from across the pond is not without difficulties; my thanks to Ken Carty, Bill Cross, Don Desserud, Monroe Eagles, Lynda Erickson, Ned Franks, Andrew Heard, Stewart Hyson, Brenda O’Neill, Anthony Sayers, Paddy Smith, Kennedy Stewart, and Beert Verstraete, who responded promptly to my urgent appeals for nuggets of esoteric information. Finally, I must thank my beloved wife, Audrey, who cheerfully put up with my vacant stares while the minutiae of the Walding affair danced haphazardly across my mind and who carefully and intelligently critiqued the manuscript’s first draft. This book has a double dedication. First, to Dr. George Perlin, who ini- tially tweaked my interest as an MA student in the internal workings of Cana- dian political parties. Besides, he’s a hell of a nice guy. Second, to my parents, Ross and Greta, who for over five decades (gulp) have provided unstinting and unconditional love and support. Hope you like it. xii 1 Introduction N 12 JANUARY 1986, in a crowded Winnipeg high-school auditori- um, Jim Walding was nominated as the New Democratic Party (NDP) Ocandidate for the provincial constituency of St. Vital. Although Walding had been a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) for fifteen years, he had fallen out of favour with key elements in his party.