Staking the Progressive Centre: An Ideational Analysis of Manitoba Party Politics

Abstract

Traditional accounts treat the evolution of Manitoba’s political party system as the product of three confluent forces: region, class, and ethnicity. Observers cite divisions between rural and urban, north and south, British and non-British, and owners, farmers, and workers as the principal cleavages around which parties have built their support. According to this conventional wisdom, the party assembling the largest socio-demographic coalition achieves the greatest level of success. This study supplements these existing accounts by revealing the importance of party ideology in forging these alliances. As demonstrated through an analysis of campaign literature dating back to 1958, the key to success in Manitoba party politics lies in crafting moderate platforms that eschew the extremes of left and right. By emphasizing “progress” and pursuing a middle-of-the-road path, leading politicians—like Duff Roblin, Edward Schreyer, and Gary Doer—have enabled their parties to reach across the socio-demographic divisions that mark the province’s political community. These findings suggest the “progressive centre” is the fertile middle ground of Manitoba party politics.