Ben Hanuschak
Encyclopedia
Ben Hanuschak is a Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

 politician. He was a cabinet minister in the government of New Democratic
New Democratic Party of Manitoba
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...

 Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...

 Edward Schreyer
Edward Schreyer
Edward Richard Schreyer , commonly known as Ed Schreyer, is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation....

, and was subsequently a founding member of the Progressive Party of Manitoba.

Hanuschak was born in Earl Grey
Earl Grey, Saskatchewan
-External links:* * *...

, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. He was educated at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

, and worked as a teacher.

Hanuschak was elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1966, defeating Liberal
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

 incumbent Mark Smerchanski
Mark Smerchanski
Mark G. Smerchanski was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1962 to 1966, and a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1972...

 in the north Winnipeg riding of Burrows. Along with others in the party, he believed that leader Russell Paulley
Russell Paulley
Andrew Russell Paulley was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as leader of the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1959 to 1961, and its successor, the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, from 1961 to 1969.Paulley was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba...

 needed to replaced before the next election. In 1968, he was the only member of the party's parliamentary caucus to support Sidney Green's leadership bid.
Edward Schreyer
Edward Schreyer
Edward Richard Schreyer , commonly known as Ed Schreyer, is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation....

 became provincial NDP leader in 1969, and won the subsequent election for the party. Hanuschak was chosen Speaker of the House on August 14, 1969, and kept this position until August 20, 1970.

Hanuschak joined Schreyer's cabinet on August 20, 1970. He initially served as Minister of Consumer and Corporate and Internal Services (August 20, 1970-December 1, 1971), and later became Minister of Education (September 9, 1971-September 22, 1976), Minister of Colleges and Universities (September 15, 1973-September 22, 1976), Minister of Urban Affairs
Minister of Urban Affairs (Manitoba)
The Minister of Urban Affairs is a former cabinet position in Manitoba, Canada.The position was created in the early 1970s, incorporating responsibilities that had previously been held by the Minister of Municipal Affairs...

 (February 15, 1973-August 29, 1973) and Minister of Continuing Education and Manpower and Minister of Tourism, Recreation and Cultural Affairs from September 22, 1976 to October 24, 1977. He left cabinet when the Schreyer government was defeated in 1977.

Like Sidney Green, Hanuschak became disillusioned with the directions taken by the provincial NDP after 1977. On March 3, 1981, he joined with Green and one other MLA to create the Progressive Party of Manitoba. Although initially socialist, this party also incorporated elements of the radical (but not extreme) right. It opposed the NDP's proposed anti-scab legislation, for instance, and was against "distinct status" recognition for minority groups.

The Progressive Party did not elect any members in the 1981 election. Hanuschak, who had been re-elected without difficulty in 1969, 1973 and 1977, received only 728 votes, against 4890 for Conrad Santos
Conrad Santos
Conrad Santos is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988, and again from 1990 to 2007....

of the NDP. He ran for the Progressive Party on two further occasions, but fared no better.

Hanuschak returned to political life in 1986 as a school trustee in the Seven Oaks division. As of 2004, serves in this position.
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