Howard Pawley

Early life The son of Methodist parents, Pawley was born in Brampton, Ontario, moved to Winnipeg at the age of 17 and was educated at Manitoba Teachers College, United College and the Manitoba Law School.

Political career

Political beginnings (1957-68) Pawley first ran for public office in the 1957 Canadian federal election as the CCF candidate in the riding of Lisgar, finishing fourth with 443 votes. In the Manitoba 1958 provincial election, he ran in the northern riding of The Pas and received 801 votes, finishing third. In both these elections he ran as a sacrificial candidate while working as an organizer for the Manitoba CCF. Later, in the 1965 federal election, he ran in the Selkirk riding and received a more respectable 4,456 votes, finishing third.

Legislative years (1969-88) In the 1969 provincial election, Pawley was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the constituency of Selkirk, a mixed urban/rural seat to the north of Winnipeg. He was immediately promoted to Edward Schreyer's cabinet and was sworn in as Minister of Government Services and Minister of Municipal Affairs on July 15, 1969. He stood down from the former position on December 18, 1969, but retained the latter until September 22, 1976. In addition to his cabinet duties, Pawley also chaired a committee that brought forward public auto insurance legislation for the province, and he was the first Chair and Minister responsible for the Manitoba public Insurance Corporation (1971–1973).

Attorney-General of Manitoba (1973-77) On September 4, 1973, Pawley was promoted to Attorney-General. After stepping down as Municipal Affairs minister in 1976, he was given the additional responsibility of administering the Liquor Control Act.

Later career Pawley left politics and became a political science professor at the University of Windsor, where he taught an executive member of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, chair of the Harry Crowe Foundation, and vice-president of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. Pawley was acting director of the Centre for Studies in Social Justice at the University of Windsor (2006-2007) and was an associate professor emeritus at the University of Windsor.

Pawley was a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation that campaigns for democratic reform in the United Nations and the creation of a more accountable international political system.

Death Pawley died in a hospital in Windsor, Ontario, from a short illness on December 30, 2015, at the age of 81.