Irene Armishaw

Irene Armishaw (nee Edmondson) is a Manitoba politician. Born in 1963 in the farming town of Oakville, MB, Armishaw is the daughter of Mark Edmondson, a local farmer and one-time political candidate. Married in 1983 to David Armishaw, she has 2 children, Bradley and Cheryl.

Provincial Politics

Undoubtedly influenced by the Prairie populism of the Depression era Progressives and Social Credit Party, Armishaw's political formation followed similar paths as those in the upstart Reform Party of Canada. At a young age she became the President of the Manitoba Confederation of Regions Party, active through the late 1980s and early 1990s, and may have been the party's political leader for the province's 1990 election. In 1991, she was responsible for changing the party's name to the Manitoba Reform Party.

The Manitoba CoR was formed in 1984, during the province's debates over the entrenchment of francophone services. It was a populist right-wing party, opposing the extension of French-language services and calling for the western provinces to receive greater autonomy. Under the leadership of Dennis Heeney, the party placed second in four rural anglophone ridings in the provincial election of 1986. This proved to be the party's apogee; its support declined in the late 1980s, as the public controversy over bilingualism waned. Armishaw's cousin Douglas Edmondson was the provincial party's first leader and came in second with almost 7000 votes in the 1984 federal election under the federal CoR banner.

Challenging both age and gender barriers, Armishaw first ran for the CoR in the election of 1988, receiving 603 votes for a fourth-place finish in the riding of Portage La Prairie. In 1990, possibly while serving as party leader, she received 486 votes in the riding of Lakeside, which was won by Progressive Conservative incumbent Harry Enns (who received 3719 votes) (though this was CoR's highest vote total of any riding that election). Irene's father Mark Edmondson ran for CoR in the riding of Morris, garnering just 302 votes and 4th place.

In April 1991, Armishaw announced that the Manitoba CoR would be changing its name to the Manitoba Reform Party following a mail-in referendum (it should be noted that the Manitoba CoR only had about 65-70 members by this time). This action brought about a legal challenge from the Reform Party of Canada, which had no formal connections to the provincial organization. Later in the year, the Court of Appeals of Manitoba ruled that no party had prior ownership of the "Reform" name for provincial elections, and that the CoR's name change would be allowed. Armishaw never actually ran under the Reform banner. The party ran two candidates in 1992 by-elections, but did not participate in the provincial election of 1995. It ceased to exist after this time.

Federal work

In the early 90s Armishaw became involved in the federal Canada Party running on a similar platform as the Manitoba Reform Party. In the wake of the 1993 federal election, the party began to break down, and due to health issues, Armishaw was forced to leave politics. Party leader Claire Foss would rally the party remains behind Paul Hellyer's Canadian Action Party, which Foss would briefly lead. Another young woman, Armishaw's daughter, Cheryl Armishaw (b. 1986), has recently become involved in politics. She is heavily involved in both her provincial and federal Conservative Party riding associations. [ [http://www.selkirkinterlake.com/default.asp?ID=33 Selkirk-Interlake Conservative Party Riding Association ] ] [ [http://www.ralpheichler.com/ Ralph Eichler MLA ] ] In a small-town/farming riding, supporting an agriculturally-minded Conservative MP, she continues the family tradition of right-leaning Prairie politics. Irene remains active in church and local activities.

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