Jim Walding
Encyclopedia
Derek James "Jim" Walding (May 9, 1937 – April 23, 2007) was a politician in Manitoba
, Canada
. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
from 1971 to 1988, and served as speaker of the assembly
from 1982 to 1986. Walding was a member of the New Democratic Party
(NDP). In 1988, he brought down the NDP government of Howard Pawley
by voting against his party's budget.
, Northamptonshire
, England
and was educated at Wellingborough Grammar School. He spent three years with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
, including a stint in West Berlin
. He moved to Canada in 1961, and worked in Winnipeg
as a dispensing optician and contact lens
fitter.
Walding supported the Labour Party
in Britain, and joined the New Democratic Party
of Canada in 1963. He served on the party's provincial executive in the 1960s.
. He initially sought the NDP nomination in the northeast Winnipeg division of Radisson, but lost to Harry Shafransky
. He was later recruited as the party's candidate for the nearby division of St. Vital, and lost to Progressive Conservative
candidate Jack Hardy by only 23 votes. After the election, the Manitoba Centennial Corporation.
Hardy resigned from the legislature in February 1971, and Walding was nominated as the NDP candidate for the by-election to succeed him. He was narrowly elected, defeating Liberal
candidate Dan Kennedy by 295 votes. This result, along with another by-election win on the same day, gave Premier
Edward Schreyer
a stable majority government
in the provincial legislature. Walding served as a backbench supporter of the Schreyer government, and developed a strong reputation for constituency work. He also chaired the private bills committee of the legislature, and gave up his practice as an optician.
Walding voted against Schreyer's decision to extend public funding to denominational schools, in a free vote of the legislature. He faced a serious challenge from Kennedy in the 1973 election
, but won by 105 votes.
The New Democrats were defeated in the 1977 provincial election
, although Walding was personally re-elected with an increased plurality. After Schreyer's appointment as Governor-General of Canada in 1979, Walding endorsed Sidney Green in his unsuccessful bid to become interim NDP leader. He later supported Howard Pawley, the successful candidate, at the party's leadership convention.
The NDP returned to government in the 1981 provincial election
. Walding was not appointed to cabinet, as some expected. Instead, Pawley appointed him as speaker of the legislature on February 25, 1982. Over the next four years, his relationship with Pawley became increasingly strained.
In 1983 and 1984, Walding allowed the opposition Progressive Conservatives to stall passage of the Pawley government's re-entrenchment of French-language rights. Initially, the Conservatives refused to enter the chamber to vote on the legislation, and Walding refused to call a vote in their absence. As a result, the division bell
s were allowed to ring for several hours at the end of each legislative day. When NDP cabinet minister Andy Anstett
restricted the amount of time the bells could ring, the Conservatives boycotted the assembly entirely. Walding still refused to call a vote. On February 21, 1984, he refused a direct request from Pawley to move the legislative agenda forward. The house was eventually prorogued with the issue still unresolved.
Many questioned the validity of Walding's decision. Sidney Green, who had left the NDP by this time and also opposed French-language re-entrenchment, nevertheless argued that Walding was wrong to give the Conservatives a means of disrupting the legislative process. Walding's actions made him extremely unpopular with some segments of his party. He was challenged for the St. Vital NDP nomination in 1986 by Gerri Unwin and Sig Laser, and defeated Laser by a single vote on the second ballot.
Walding was re-elected in the general election of 1986
with a reduced majority. The NDP was re-elected with a narrow majority government, and Pawley did not re-appoint Walding as speaker.
As a backbencher, Walding spoke out against the Pawley government on several issues. He was particularly opposed to affirmative action
legislation, which he regarded as discriminatory.
Walding voted for an opposition amendment to his party's budget on March 8, 1988, despite having assured Finance Minister Eugene Kostyra
that he would support it. Walding's defection caused the NDP to be defeated in the legislature, and they also lost the general election that followed. Walding was not a candidate.
He died, aged 69, after a short battle with cancer in 2007. He was survived by his wife, Valerie and their children, Andrew, Phillip and Christine.
Ian Stewart has written a book about Walding's political career, entitled Just One Vote: Jim Walding's nomination to constitutional defeat (2009). He argues that Walding's 1986 nomination victory set in motion a series of events that led to the defeat of the Meech Lake Accord
on constitutional reform.
Ian Stewart, Just One Vote: From Jim Walding's Nomination to Constitutional Defeat (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2009).
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...
. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...
from 1971 to 1988, and served as speaker of the assembly
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba is the presiding officer of the provincial legislature.-List of Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba:-References:* *...
from 1982 to 1986. Walding was a member of the New Democratic Party
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...
(NDP). In 1988, he brought down the NDP government of Howard Pawley
Howard Pawley
Howard Russell Pawley, PC, OC, OM is a Canadian politician and professor who was the 18th Premier of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988.-Personal life:...
by voting against his party's budget.
Early life and career
Walding was born at RushdenRushden
Rushden is a town and civil parish in the county of Northamptonshire, England.The parish of Rushden covers an area of some and is part of the district of East Northamptonshire. The population of Rushden was estimated at around 28,368, making it the fifth largest town in the county...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and was educated at Wellingborough Grammar School. He spent three years with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was a Irish infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot...
, including a stint in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. He moved to Canada in 1961, and worked in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
as a dispensing optician and contact lens
Contact lens
A contact lens, or simply contact, is a lens placed on the eye. They are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons. In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United...
fitter.
Walding supported the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in Britain, and joined the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
of Canada in 1963. He served on the party's provincial executive in the 1960s.
Legislator
Walding first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the 1969 provincial electionManitoba general election, 1969
The Manitoba General Election of June 25, 1969 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was a watershed moment in the province's political history. The social-democratic New Democratic Party emerged for the first time as the largest party in...
. He initially sought the NDP nomination in the northeast Winnipeg division of Radisson, but lost to Harry Shafransky
Harry Shafransky
Harry Shafransky was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1977.Shafransky worked as a teacher before entering politics...
. He was later recruited as the party's candidate for the nearby division of St. Vital, and lost to Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...
candidate Jack Hardy by only 23 votes. After the election, the Manitoba Centennial Corporation.
Hardy resigned from the legislature in February 1971, and Walding was nominated as the NDP candidate for the by-election to succeed him. He was narrowly elected, 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 :...
candidate Dan Kennedy by 295 votes. This result, along with another by-election win on the same day, gave Premier
Premier of Manitoba
The Premier of Manitoba is the first minister for the Canadian province of Manitoba. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. Until the early 1970s, the title "Prime Minister of Manitoba" was used frequently. Afterwards, the word Premier, derived from the French...
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....
a stable majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in the provincial legislature. Walding served as a backbench supporter of the Schreyer government, and developed a strong reputation for constituency work. He also chaired the private bills committee of the legislature, and gave up his practice as an optician.
Walding voted against Schreyer's decision to extend public funding to denominational schools, in a free vote of the legislature. He faced a serious challenge from Kennedy in the 1973 election
Manitoba general election, 1973
The Manitoba General Election of June 28, 1973 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the social-democratic New Democratic Party, which took 31 of 57 seats...
, but won by 105 votes.
The New Democrats were defeated in the 1977 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1977
The Manitoba general election of October 11, 1977 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which took 33 seats out of 57...
, although Walding was personally re-elected with an increased plurality. After Schreyer's appointment as Governor-General of Canada in 1979, Walding endorsed Sidney Green in his unsuccessful bid to become interim NDP leader. He later supported Howard Pawley, the successful candidate, at the party's leadership convention.
The NDP returned to government in the 1981 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1981
The Manitoba general election of November 17, 1981 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the opposition New Democratic Party, which took 34 of 57 seats. The governing Progressive Conservative Party took the remaining 23, while the...
. Walding was not appointed to cabinet, as some expected. Instead, Pawley appointed him as speaker of the legislature on February 25, 1982. Over the next four years, his relationship with Pawley became increasingly strained.
In 1983 and 1984, Walding allowed the opposition Progressive Conservatives to stall passage of the Pawley government's re-entrenchment of French-language rights. Initially, the Conservatives refused to enter the chamber to vote on the legislation, and Walding refused to call a vote in their absence. As a result, the division bell
Division bell
A division bell is a bell rung in or around a parliament to signal a division and thus call all members of the chamber so affected to vote in it.- In the United Kingdom :...
s were allowed to ring for several hours at the end of each legislative day. When NDP cabinet minister Andy Anstett
Andy Anstett
Andy Anstett is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the New Democratic Party government of Premier Howard Pawley, and made an unsuccessful bid for the party's leadership in 1988....
restricted the amount of time the bells could ring, the Conservatives boycotted the assembly entirely. Walding still refused to call a vote. On February 21, 1984, he refused a direct request from Pawley to move the legislative agenda forward. The house was eventually prorogued with the issue still unresolved.
Many questioned the validity of Walding's decision. Sidney Green, who had left the NDP by this time and also opposed French-language re-entrenchment, nevertheless argued that Walding was wrong to give the Conservatives a means of disrupting the legislative process. Walding's actions made him extremely unpopular with some segments of his party. He was challenged for the St. Vital NDP nomination in 1986 by Gerri Unwin and Sig Laser, and defeated Laser by a single vote on the second ballot.
Walding was re-elected in the general election of 1986
Manitoba general election, 1986
The Manitoba general election of March 18, 1986 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which took 30 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party won 26 seats and formed the official opposition...
with a reduced majority. The NDP was re-elected with a narrow majority government, and Pawley did not re-appoint Walding as speaker.
As a backbencher, Walding spoke out against the Pawley government on several issues. He was particularly opposed to affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
legislation, which he regarded as discriminatory.
Walding voted for an opposition amendment to his party's budget on March 8, 1988, despite having assured Finance Minister Eugene Kostyra
Eugene Kostyra
Eugene Michael Kostyra is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988, and a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party government of Howard Pawley for all of this period.Kostyra dropped out of St...
that he would support it. Walding's defection caused the NDP to be defeated in the legislature, and they also lost the general election that followed. Walding was not a candidate.
He died, aged 69, after a short battle with cancer in 2007. He was survived by his wife, Valerie and their children, Andrew, Phillip and Christine.
Ian Stewart has written a book about Walding's political career, entitled Just One Vote: Jim Walding's nomination to constitutional defeat (2009). He argues that Walding's 1986 nomination victory set in motion a series of events that led to the defeat of the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
on constitutional reform.
Reading
Geoffrey Lambert, 'Manitoba', Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1988, pp 252-260.Ian Stewart, Just One Vote: From Jim Walding's Nomination to Constitutional Defeat (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2009).