Douglas Edmondson was a political figure in 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...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 during the 1980s. He was the first leader of that province's Confederation of Regions Party

Manitoba Confederation of Regions Party

The Manitoba Confederation of Regions Party was a political party in Manitoba, Canada. It was the provincial branch of the Confederation of Regions Party of Canada, a right-wing organization which sought greater autonomy for Western Canada. Unlike the Western Canada Concept and the Western...

, although he never actually ran in a provincial election.

The federal CoR was founded by Elmer Knutson

Elmer Knutson

Elmer S. Knutson was a Canadian fringe politician. He was born on the family farm in Torquay, Saskatchewan. He worked on road gangs, in lumber camps and mines until he won a baseball scholarship to a Lutheran college in North Dakota, USA. After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War...

 shortly before the Canadian general election of 1984. The party's platform called for more powers to be devolved to the provinces (although unlike the Western Canada Concept

Western Canada Concept

The Western Canada Concept was a Western Canadian political party founded in 1980 to promote the separation of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and the Yukon and Northwest Territories from Canada in order to create a new nation.The party argued that Western...

, it did not call for separation from Canada). It also opposed the extension of French-language rights outside of Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

.

Edmondson became the first leader of Manitoba's provincial CoR soon after the federal party was founded. He had previously been as Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

, and had served for a time as President of the party's Portage--Marquette riding association

Riding association

In Canadian politics a riding association , officially called an electoral district association is the basic unit of a political party, that is it is the party's organization at the level of the electoral district, or "riding"...

. He was himself a candidate in Portage—Marquette in the federal election of 1984, receiving 6957 votes and finishing second to Tory incumbent Charlie Mayer, who received 15378.

The CoR subsequently declined in popular support, and Edmondson stepped down as its leader before the provincial election of 1986.