The Honourable John Norquay

In December 1870, his fellow English-speaking Métis of High Bluff sent him to serve in Manitoba’s first Legislative Assembly after an election he won by acclamation. These were not easy times to be in politics. The small “postage stamp” province was in its infancy, and Louis Riel had fled into exile just before the arrival of Canadian and British troops in August. The Manitoba government was divided into factions: old guard Bungee/English-speaking Métis, Michif/French-speaking Métis, newly arrived Orange Order Ontarians, and Catholic Québécois.

His election was a turning point for the twenty-nine-year-old Norquay, as he accepted the challenges put forth by a role in provincial politics. Friesen notes that leadership “pivoted on quiet conversations and an individual’s ability to express ideas in a forceful, convincing manner,” and he suggests that Norquay’s tutelage in Métis buffalo-hunt protocols serendipitously prepared him for political life.

Between 1870 and 1887, Manitoba’s population grew tenfold. Newcomers inundated the area, bringing outside ideas and a quest for land, along with systemic racism. The new provincial government was controlled mostly by outsiders, not by people native to the Red River Settlement.

Friesen notes that “throughout the 1870s Norquay continued to acknowledge his connections to Cree, Saulteaux, and Dakota neighbours while asserting the distinctive claims of peoples of mixed ancestry.” After he held several ministerial positions, Norquay’s moderate stance on most issues, coupled with his oratory skills, brought him to the forefront. When Premier Robert Davis retired, Norquay formed a new government and became premier in October 1878.

His role as premier was multifold — in addition to tempering the increasingly factional politics in the Legislative Assembly, Norquay worked to define the province’s connection with the federal government in Ottawa. During his premiership he made ten trips to the nation’s capital. As he navigated an undulating relationship with Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and jockeyed for provincial rights within an asymmetrical federal state, Norquay’s expert statecraft made him Manitoba’s first diplomat.

At a time when the average man was five-foot-seven, Norquay stood six feet tall and weighed over three hundred pounds. According to Friesen, at a Conservative Party banquet in 1879 Norquay quipped that Manitoba “might be the smallest province but it had the largest premier.”

He remained premier until 1887, resigning in the wake of a series of scandals. After winning his seat in the 1888 election, his sudden death in 1889 took away his chance to redeem his political reputation.

Collaborator? Yes-man? Quisling? Being a political moderate can bring an assault of adjectives, not all of them complimentary. Regardless, Norquay was the designer, if not the driver, of the basic institutions we have in Manitoba today. Lasting testaments to his work include the expansion of the province’s boundaries; his spadework in the building of roadways and branch railways; the creation of municipalities, court districts, and school districts; and his deft hand in federal-provincial relations.

Friesen, a former professor of history at the University of Manitoba, presents a life and times of John Norquay that is meticulously researched and that is often presented in Norquay’s own words. In doing so, he gives the “engaging ally” and “loving family man” overdue standing in the annals of Canadian history. Leaving nothing in the weeds, Friesen lets readers know that John Norquay is the founder of the Manitoba we know today.