Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 15, 1961, Winnipeg, Manitoba Page of provincial liberals. Winnipeg free press saturday april 15, 1961 one of these is next Leader youngest contender his Trump card is seat Stanley Carl Roberts 34, Hope that in a Friendly sort of a Premier Duff Roblin will com to Rue the Day he talked a Youn Niverville Farmer into entering politics. The Liberal member for l Verendrye a contender for the Liberal leadership explains tha at one time he and or. Roblin were on the provincial executive of the chamber of Commerce the Man who is now Premie persuaded or. Roberts to go int politics if he had Strong com plaints about the administration of the province and the nation. Or. Roberts did. The agric Tural policies of both the federa and provincial Liberal regime disappointed him. Farmers h had t had a Chance to at just to technical changes in agriculture. For the most part the cd Len t borrow Money from e ther Banks or government. Or Roberts wanted an agriculture credit plan which he notes the present government has sine instituted. By conviction so he entered politics Buas a Liberal. Aside from agn culture he was a Liberal by conviction the Best Way t get changes in agricultural poll cies was to work within if the reluctant sex Premie Douglas Campbell does t be come Leader again political observers say the forthcoming convention will probably favor Eithe Mark Smerchanski or or. Rob he has campaigned hard of the leadership visiting every provincial constituency except Churchill in the far North. He believes he has support among both Rural and Urban delegates party regulars opposing or Roberts say he is too far to left and that he is too Young is the word tha often crops up in conversation. On his age the youngest of the leadership contestants says he is Young enough to have the Energy for the Job and is prepared to be a full time Leader. He notes also that he is the Only announced candidate other than. Or. Campbell who now has a seat in the legislature. Won in 58 he ousted the sitting Nebr for la Verendrye at the Liberal nominating convention in 1958, won the seat and held it with an increased majority in the conservative sweep the following year. It is not fair he says to de him As being far to the left in the Liberal party. I m to the left of or. Campbell certainly but not leftist As far As the party is would t the Cost of govern ment increase under the program he advocates he insists they would to because he advocates reallocating government activity not expanding it. Examples education costs under the new school division plan appear to be running out of hand. It would be difficult to trim costs with salaries already raised and building contracts let but an Effort will have to be made to keep future costs Check reined. A Large loan fund is needed to Aid students at University and at technical schools. Many of them do not finish their courses because they. Lack the Money. A medical plan for Manitoba voluntary with the government paying the difference in premiums Between a set rate and what those on Low incomes can afford to pay is needed. N House the province should encourage the production of specialized agricultural crops lessening the Farmer s dependence on such sur plus crops As eggs pork and wheat. Or. Roberts is a member of the United Church who received his Public schooling at a parochial school at St. Adolphe the Only school in the town near the farm on which he grew up. He refuses to say whether he is for govern ment Aid to parochial schools. It can t be a partisan sub he says. No political party should take a stand on the is sue. The Roblin government on the other hand should make a statement since the Royal com Mission established by the government recommended state Aid. A tall trim handsome Man or. Roberts was born on a farm near Osborne in january 1927. He joined the Royal Winnipeg rifles in 1943 when he was 16 after graduating from High school. In 1945 he entered the univer sity of Manitoba graduating four years later with his Bachelor of science in agriculture. In 1950 he joined Canada pack ers As a feed Mill inspector. He left the firm in 1954 to operate a 400-acre farm at Niverville raising cattle and pigs and producing eggs for the City Market. The Liberal progressive party of Manitoba will choose a Leader in con Ference next wednesday to Friday. Although he appears reluctant to run then is a Good Chance former Premier Douglas Campbell will be drafted to stay at the Helm As caretaker. It is also Likely that Mark Smerchanski considered a leading contender will withdraw. The election of the Leader will be on free press on this Page presents the five announced candidates for the position. The last of the progressives is More biting witty than Ever the last of the progressives Douglas Lloyd Campbell 66 next month has behind him 39 Honor Able years As Bac Bencher Cabi net minister Premier and opposition Leader in the Manitoba legis lature. If he gets his wish he May again serve As a. Bac Bencher before quitting the Manitoba political scene to become the elder statesman of provincial liberals. For there is Little doubt that or. Campbell does not want to remain As Liberal Leader. While saying publicly that he would con test the forthcoming leadership he has privately let it be known for More than a year that if he can leave the party with a Leader of whom he approves hell gladly step aside. He has a 400-acre farm he Longs to return to. None of the four candidates is among or. Campbell s top preferences for Leader but despite the fact that Liberal Las in caucus recently asked him to stay on he could Well drop out of the race at the convention. Fought Back after he was swept from of fice in 1958, Many thought or. Campbell was through As a political Leader. witty wiry 160-Pounder came Back fighting As a highly capable opposition Leader Quick on the Uptake Well versed in parliamentary ways a continual Thorn in the govern ment s Side. Even More significant for Liberal party he kept together an organization encompassing widely differing views so that despite the trial of two electoral defeats it still functions As a co Elesive political party. Or. Campbell Anchorman for he right Wing has accomplished fits in part by modifying his own position to meet the de mands of the More Radical ele ments in the party. But at the same time he Points o mounting government costs and financial difficulties to say that perhaps the Campbell and or ministration was t so bad after All. He still stoutly insists that wherever possible the govern ment should pay As it goes but Points out too that under his 10-year stewardship government expenditures increased from million to million not As stingy As its opponents claimed. Rapier wit most at Home on the Campaign rail the non smoking non drink no or. Campbell relies on a friendliness and an ability to catch the mood of a meeting rather than on embellished Ora Ory. He employs a rapier wit rather than thundering Denuncio Ion to score his opponents he commands respect from Ali Ticiano of All parties. In lulls n the political Battle he con esses to an admiration for pre Mier Duff Roblin s ability and Hon. Douglas l. Campbell character a confession that or. Roblin returns. Or. Campbell a Farmer at heart was Only 27 when he first entered the legislature As a progressive in the Farmers rebel of 1922. Neighbors persuaded the Young flee Island Farmer to stand for the Lakeside constituency. He did and won and in his constituency has never been Defeated since. But he was no upstart rebel no Flash in the pan politician. He is scotch and he con fesses and it was perhaps in his nature to Rise slowly but steadily. Premier j. Bracken named him agriculture minister in 1936. In 1942, when or. Bracken became head of the National progressive conservatives his successor Stu Art Garson made or. Campbell minister under the Manitoba Power act As Well portfolios he continued to hold throughout the War in the coalition government that started in 1940. When or. Garson in 1948 be came Federal Justice minister the coalition caucus picked or. Campbell As his successor. He Vas renamed by a realigned coalition Liberal progressive progressive conservative and inde pendent in 1949, but the follow ing year Deputy Premier Errick Willis led a conservative revolt that ended the or. Campbell was born in 1895 on the flee Island farm of his father about 15 Miles North of Portage la Prairie. Educated at Portage and nearby High Bluff he took two years of a Liberal arts course at Brandon col lege before returning to his father s farm. He is married to a former Rural school the former Gladys Crampton whom he met in typical Western fashion at a dance at the school. They have three sons and four daughters. All but one a nurse attended University and four have master s degrees. Jobin has Cabinet experience party with him would go left in the bullpen beyond Lef Field Francis Laurence Bud Jobin 47, awaits the Call to res Cue the game for the Liberal progressive party of Manitoba but he s not posing As Mani Toba s general de Gaulle of the left. He has remained Aloo from campaigning for the leadership for quite a Down to Earth his Job is in flin flon the Campaign Centre is Many Miles South. And he Points out when he announced his candidacy last june he said he would t Campaign before the convention but would leave it to the Conven Tion itself to pick a Leader. He has avoided asking sup port for himself but has urged Only that delegates attend the convention uncommitted. The eader should be. Picked he maintains Only after delegates Lave studied the reaction of candidates to the policies adopted at the convention. Although. The Only candidate with Cabinet experience accept or opposition Leader Douglas who seems reluctant to serve again As Leader or. Jobin is opposed by Many of the arty regulars. Personally Well liked throughout the his views Are nevertheless of far to the left to gain him support from the other Wing. Sums up he. Says the Liberal party must remain the party of the Middle placing individual be Ore state private Enterprise be Ore socialism. To counter the Barge of being too Radical he urns up his achievements since 949 As an la for the Pas and after redistribution for flin Ion and As minister of Indus Ries and Commerce under pre Mier Campbell from 1956 and minister of labor for a time in 958 until the party s defeat and in 1959 his personal defeat. Was it being he ski to suggest Northern de elopement revision of liquor aws voting rights for indians improvements to the workmen s Francis Bud Jobin a compensation act or labor legislation or what about Grants to the boy scout and girl guide associations redistribution equal a for equal work for women Nti discrimination in employ ment legislation Hospital insure nce greater welfare payments improvements to Highway 10, oads to resources provision of electricity to outlying areas and be development of recreational reas or Industrial and agricultural can funds sunday sports util nation of Northern Rivers for Hydro electric Power and the revision of television for parts the province not presently his Independent views and Liat has been called his embarrassing frankness put him at Odds with the Campbell administration several times As Bac Bencher and As cab net minister. At one Point in 1955 a group of conservatives after some typically outspoken Jobin criticism of the govern ment privately invited him to Cross the floor but he refused. He disagrees with those of his party among them or. Campbell and Mark Smerchanski who feel the conservatives have moved too far too fast. Certainly we must not re he says. If anything we must expand with an expansion that Calls for hard work and bold thinking rather than spending he urges medical insurance de void of state control and inter Ference. E provision of social Capi Tal at reasonable rates of inter est for schools roads utilities and a an improvement in the of distribution of at least the necessities of life a Means which today Are a he believes parochial schools Are entitled to government Aid but Hopes it won t become a political Issue or Divide Manito bans into hostile Camps. Both sides have fixed and firm convictions he says and the Dis Pute can be resolved Only with a spirit of understanding Char Ity and six footer or. Jobin an amiable six footer returned to his Job As paymaster with the Hudson Bay mining and smelting co. In Fin flon after his loss in the conservative sweep of 1959 to c. H. Witney fellow townsman and now resources minister. Son of a former Winnipeg wholesale grocer or. Jobin was born in Winnipeg in 1914, and at tended St. Mary s school and St. Paul s High school. He received his Bachelor of arts de Gree with majors in history and philosophy from the University of Manitoba in 1935, after at tending an affiliate Campion College in Regina. He joined Hudson Bay mining and smelting in 1935, moving up from pick and shovel work to his present position. He was married in 1938 to the former Donalda Lamont. They have a daughter a student nurse. Controversial one vote mayor has devout supporters bitter enemies favors pay As you go Smerchanski thinks Industry is the key his training As an applied scientist he s a mining geologist probably gives Mark Gerald Smerchanski 46, his pragmatic approach to pragmatism. Politics. And at least at this this stage of his Campaign to become Liberal Leader gives him a conservative air. Anything i say i want to say in a responsible he explains in a confident resonant voice. I want to make no rash this is the reason he says or the apparent contradiction Between his caution on political issues and his obvious adventure Rusness in private business. He admits being an aggressive and determined businessman afraid neither of gambling nor of hard work to obtain the goals set out or himself. But he says he shows this aggressiveness Only when he knows All there is to know about he problems confronting him and has charted his Way. Up o now he has t devoted tune enough to politics to explore Thor Hughly All the issues that will confront Manitoba s next Liberal eader. Industry key he believes his Success in bus Ness would serve him Well As a political Leader. As he has been largely responsible As a business iian for three new industries to ated in Manitoba so he believes he answers to Manitoba s econ problems lie in expanding he tax base through bringing Lew Industry Here. He agrees with the present eader d. L. Campbell that the Iroy Ince should pay As it goes. We Are mortgaging our econ my entirely too he says. We should retrench take Stock and see where we Are in conversation he returns time and again to the Issue of Taxa Ion. His biggest criticism of the resent government is that indirect and some direct taxes encouraged to take As much re have gone on metro this duplication has raised our taxes and it s going to raise them some More. Metro was poor planning on the part of on the enlarged school districts excellent but a waste of Money up. Origin ally the municipalities had jurisdiction now they Haven t. This a possibility As they As his views on metro and the school districts show he is a Strong advocate of government at the municipal level. Local municipalities should be Given All the management Over their own affairs no views he said in the interview for this article that he has no Defin Ite views on the question of gov is a mistake they should be eminent Aid to parochial schools Mark c. Smerchanski but would seek guidance from the convention s policy committee. In an earlier interview with the free press however or. Smerchanski said parochial schools deserve some sort of compensation but whether they get it or not should be decided by individual school boards another example of his advocacy of decentralized government. His father still lives at Balaton in the Interlake re Gion where Mark was born one of seven Brothers and a sister in november 1914. Or. Smerchanski graduated with a Bachelor of science de Gree with honors in geology and chemistry from the University of Manitoba in 1937, and the next year received s degree in mining geology from the Virginia polytechnic Institute. A rugged looking Man he Pur sued his career in the red Lake Reggiori starting As a mucker until War broke out. In 1940 his at tempts to enlist were and he was sent by the Canadian government to British Guiana to supervise the mining of Bauxite. In 1943 he went to Northern que Bec on a Power project and after the War returned to Winnipeg to set up his consulting office. He was a member of the greater Winnipeg transit commission for five years but quit because he said of the pressure of Busi Ness. If he becomes Leader he says he will turn Over All his private interests to the care of two Bro thers who now work with and devote All his time to politics. He was a member of the Board of governors of the University of Manitoba and chair Man of the fund which assisted in establishing the department slavic studies at the University. He is married to the former Patricia Paget granddaughter of Charlotte Ross first woman Doc Tor in Western Canada they have three daughters the oldest ii. There s a Story that the Rev. Lloyd Henderson 54, mayor Portage la Prairie has a ape recorder in his car. One unday driving about his City e sees an ramp Constable leave restaurant at . Con Able the mayor Ells his tape recorder. He goes n permanent night a Short while later he spies mrs. X hanging out her Wash. To the tape recorder the min ister mayor says mrs. X she goes to True or not the Story pin Points several of the mayor s Many sides. When he s awake and that s usually 18 hours or More of the Day he s working. He s a great Man for Organiza Tion. Can carry on two Tele phone conversation talk to some body with me and write a report at the same he makes decisions quickly. He likes to talk. And he believes nothing to be outside the scope of a pastor politician. For or against describing him As controversial is As banal yet essential As describing water As wet. In Portage la Prairie they say it s now next to impossible to find anyone with an open mind to Ward him. You re for him passionately or against him bit Terly. Says the mayor shows Strong leadership. The Hail fellow Well met Type is no by Long family tradition and by personal Choice he s a Liber Al but More a Liberal yet beyond Portage Neepawa be has practically no support among party officials from the grass roots up. As a candidate at the National Liberal leadership convention in january 1958, he ran third to Lester Pearson and Paul Martin gaining nationwide publicity because he received one single vote but not his own. Neither he nor his wife were accredited delegates so could not vote. Able talker an Able captivating talker he exudes schemes denunciations defences solutions. Liberalism he says is a Way of life in which people Are most important. Without you have it s his favorite theme cropping up time and again in conversation. Races re. Legions Are equal. Diversity makes Canada on this theme he bases his support for state Aid to parochial schools. Be sides in private schools you get better educational if he has All this respect for people and diversity Why is he so vehement toward anyone who opposes him in what Way How do you the controversy last summer Over the school failure rate at Portage collegiate for example. That was bad reporting. The meeting was not near riotous.1 then How about his running Battle with the ramp this led him into a detailed account of his version of a letter Exchange with Federal Justice minister Davie Fulton. Somewhere along the Way the original question got lost. Busy Man his Job As minister of first presbyterian Church in Portage would be a full time Job for most. So would Hij mayor s position. But he finds time in addition to his political activities at the provincial and Federal lev Els to head or sit on 12 Muni Cipal or Community service boards or plus Church organizations. He and mrs. Were married in the have no children but they have applied to adopt two Oriental the mayor says. He was one of 12 children born on a Prince Edward Island farm. After graduating in economics and political science from my Gill University he taught school in Prince Edward Island. He came to Portage As minister at first presbyterian in 1943. In his years As mayor he has carried on a running feud with the ramp Over policing his City twice been fined for traffic offences and himself has charged an ramp official with breaking traffic Laws. Last fall the policeman was fined a Nom Inal on one count and acquit Ted on tie other mayor Hender son was assessed the court costs and reprimanded by tha magistrate. Charged a Young Winnipeg Engineer with assault. The Engineer who lost his Job admit Ted punching on tha jaw because the mayor had called him and his firm Bone he was fined and a fund to pay it was promptly taken up in Portage and shortly Over subscribed. Engaged in a verbal Battle with Aid. Lillian Hallonquist of Winnipeg after Aid. Hallonquist walked out of a Brandon Cipal meeting. She accused the minister mayor of telling off col or stories. He said he d told the same stories from the pulpit. Rev. H. Lloyd Henderson ;