The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba was established on July 14, 1870. After the control of Rupert's Land was passed from Great Britain to the Government of Canada in 1869, Manitoba attained full-fledged rights and responsibilities of self-government as the first Canadian province carved out of the Northwest Territories.[5] The Legislative Assembly consists of the fifty-seven Members elected to represent the people of Manitoba.[6] Manitoba's primary political parties are the New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP), the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba and the Manitoba Liberal Party.
The current premier of Manitoba is Brian Pallister, who replaced Greg Selinger of the New Democratic Party to lead the Conservative majority government of 40 seats. The New Democratic Party holds 14 seats, and the Liberal Party with 3 seats but does not have official party status in the Manitoba Legislature.The last general election was held April 19, 2016.[7] Historically, political parties first appeared between 1878 and 1883, with a two-party system (Liberals and Conservatives).[8] The United Farmers of Manitoba appeared in 1922, and later merged with the Liberals in 1932 to form the dominant political party.[8] Other parties, including the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), appeared during the Great Depression; in the 1950s, Manitoban politics became a three-party system, and the Liberal party gradually declined in power.[8] The CCF became the NDP, which came to power in 1969.[8] Since then, the Conservatives and the NDP have been the dominant parties.[8]
^Government of Canada. Senators [Retrieved 2009-11-12].
^Dupont, Jerry. The Common Law Abroad: Constitutional and Legal Legacy of the British Empire. Fred B Rothman & Co; 2000. ISBN 0-8377-3125-9. p. 139–142.
^Hogg, Peter W. Necessity in Manitoba: The Role of Courts in Formative or Crisis Periods. In: Shimon Shetreet. The Role of Courts in Society. Aspen Publishing; 1988. ISBN 90-247-3670-6. p. 9.
^ abcdeAdams, Chris. Manitoba’s Political Party Systems: An Historical Overview. Annual Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association. 2006-09-17:2–23.
^Brawn, Dale. The Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, 1870–1950: A Biographical History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press; 2006. ISBN 0-8020-9225-X. p. 16–20.