Albert Driedger(January 18, 1936 – July 18, 2011) was apoliticianinManitoba,Canada. He was a member of theLegislative Assembly of Manitobafrom 1977 to 1999, and acabinet ministerin the government ofGary Filmonfrom 1988 to 1997.[1]
Driedger was born inSteinbach,Manitoba, and was educated at theUniversity of Manitoba.He returned to the Steinbach area after graduation, and worked as a real estate broker and farmer. In 1958, Driedger married Mary Penner. Between 1967 and 1972, he served asreeveof the municipality ofHanover.He was also a director of the ElimMennoniteChurch inGrunthal, Manitoba.[2]On July 15, 1970, hisfrogGeorges won theFirst International Frog Jumping ChampionshipinSt. Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba,as part of a series of festivities surrounding aroyal visit.[3]
Driedger was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in theprovincial election of 1977as aProgressive Conservative,defeating incumbentNew DemocratSteve Derewianchuk[1]by about 1000 votes in the rural southeastern riding ofEmerson.[4]In his first term, he served as a backbenchMLAsupporting the Progressive Conservative government ofSterling Lyon.
The NDP defeated Lyon's government in the1981 provincial election,although Driedger was able to retain Emerson[1]by 356 votes over his NDP challengerPaul Dupuis.He was re-elected by a greater majority in the1986 election,[1]which the NDP won by a narrow margin.
In 1988, disgruntled NDP backbencherJim Waldingbrought down his government and forced anew election.Driedger was again re-elected without difficulty, and was appointedMinister of Government ServicesandMinister of Highways and Transportationon May 9, 1988.[5]
Following the redistribution of provincial electoral districts for the1990 election,Driedger ran in the riding ofSteinbach;he once again won without any difficulty. He lost his position as government services minister on February 5, 1991, and on September 10, 1993, was transferred from highways and transportation to theMinistry of Natural Resources.Once again, he experienced no difficulties in the1995 provincial election.[1]He supportedJean Charest's bid to lead theProgressive Conservative Party of Canadain 1993 (Winnipeg Free Press,12 June 1993). Driedger was dropped from cabinet on January 6, 1997, and did not seek re-election in 1999.[1]
After leaving politics, he was chairman of the board for the Menno Home for the Aged inGrunthal.[6]Driedger died on July 18, 2011, at the age of 75, days after suffering a stroke.[7]
References
edit- ^abcdef"MLA Biographies - Deceased".Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-30.
- ^"Albert Driedger".Winnipeg Free Press.July 21, 2011.Retrieved2014-02-06.
- ^"History".St-Pierre-Jolys Frog Follies.Retrieved2014-02-06.
- ^"Emerson".Manitoba.CBC News.Retrieved2014-02-06.
- ^"Thousands Flee From Fires In North Manitoba Forests".NYTimes.July 25, 1989.Retrieved22 November2010.
- ^"Tory minister admired for his honesty".Winnipeg Free Press. July 20, 2011.Retrieved2014-02-06.
- ^"Former MLA Dead".Steinbach Online.July 19, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 22 July 2011.Retrieved19 July2011.