Jim Ernst

James Arthur Ernst (born November 19, 1942) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a municipal councillor in Winnipeg from 1973 to 1986 and a member of the Manitoba legislature from 1986 to 1997. [ [http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/members/bios_living.html#e ERNST, James Arthur (Biographies of Living Members)] at Legislative Assembly of Manitoba] From 1988 to 1997, Ernst was a cabinet minister in the government of Premier Gary Filmon.

Ernst was born in Winnipeg, and was educated at St. Paul's College (affiliated with the University of Manitoba). He worked as a real estate and insurance broker before entering public life. Ernst was elected as a councillor in the amalgamated City of Winnipeg in 1973, and served as the city's Deputy Mayor from 1981 to 1986. During his time in municipal politics, Ernst was associated with the Independent Citizens' Election Committee, an unofficial alliance of right-wing business interests in the city.

Ernst left municipal politics to run for the provincial legislature in Manitoba's 1986 provincial election. He was elected in the west-end Winnipeg riding of Charleswood as a Progressive Conservative, defeating his closest opponent by almost 4000 votes. The election was narrowly won by the New Democratic Party, and Ernst joined 25 other Conservatives in opposition.

In 1988, the NDP government was brought down by a disgruntled backbencher named Jim Walding. The resulting election took place at a time when the provincial Liberal Party was making inroads into both PC and NDP areas of support; Ernst was only narrowly re-elected, defeating Liberal candidate Shari Nelson by fewer than 1000 votes.

The Conservatives under Gary Filmon formed a minority government following this election. On May 9, 1988, Ernst was appointed Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, with responsibility for Development Corporation, Sport, the Fitness and Amateur Sport Act, the Boxing and Wrestling Commission and Manitoba Forestry.

The provincial Liberals had slipped in popularity by the provincial election of 1990, and Ernst was returned in Charleswood without any difficulty. After a cabinet shuffle on February 5, 1991, he was named Minister of Urban Affairs and Minister of Housing. After a further shift on September 10, 1993, he was named Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs and Government House Leader, once again receiving responsibility for Sport, the Fitness and Amateur Sport Act, the Boxing and Wrestling Commission and (until May 9, 1995) the Manitoba Lotteries Foundation Act.

Ernst was convincingly re-elected in the 1995 provincial election. He was removed from cabinet following a shuffle on January 6, 1997, and resigned from the legislature on October 28 of the same year.

After leaving politics, Ernst was appointed Vice-President of Optx 2000, a research and development firm. He has also served as Chief Executive Officer of the Team Canada Volleyball Centre, and presided over the elimination of that organization's debt in 2002.

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