Stephen Juba
Encyclopedia
Stephen Juba, OC
(July 1, 1914 in Winnipeg
– May 2, 1993) was a Canadian
politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
from 1953 to 1959, and served as the 37th Mayor of Winnipeg from 1957 to 1977. He was the first Ukrainian Canadian
to hold high political office in the city.
Juba left school at age fifteen, when his family could no longer pay for his education. His father, a building contractor, saw his practice decline after the stock market crash
of 1929. Juba worked in odd jobs for several years, and also started two small businesses before he was twenty-one: Weston Builders Ltd. and S.N. Juba & Co. These names reflected Juba's gift for self-promotion. Weston Builders Ltd. was not actually an incorporated company; Juba had simply added "Ltd." to its name to make it "look official". In the case of S.N. Juba & Co., he added a fictitious middle initial because he thought it "sounded good". He was largely unsuccessful as a businessman until 1945, when he started a wholesale distributing firm called Keystone Supply Ltd, which would make him wealthy.
Juba's first forays into electoral politics were unsuccessful. He ran as an independent candidate in Winnipeg North Centre
in the Canadian federal election of June 1949
, against rising CCF star Stanley Knowles
. He later acknowledged that had no chance of winning, but entered the race "to gain experience" and "to be educated by an expert". He received only 694 votes, finishing a very distant fourth. In the provincial election of November 1949
, Juba ran in the riding of Winnipeg Centre
as an Independent Liberal, supporting the coalition government of Douglas L. Campbell. The City of Winnipeg was divided into three provincial constituencies at the time, each of which elected four members by preferential balloting. Juba finished eighth with 1015 votes on the first ballot, and was eliminated on the fourth count.
He ran for the Winnipeg City Council in 1950 and 1952, and came surprisingly close to winning on the second occasion. He challenged Winnipeg mayor Garnet Coulter
later in 1952, and received 28,000 votes to Coulter's 38,000 (CCF candidate Donovan Swailes
finished third with 22,000). Juba called for reform of the province's liquor laws during this campaign.
With an increased civic profile, Juba ran again as an independent in the 1953 provincial election
. He finished second in Winnipeg Centre, and secured election on the eighth count. During this election, Juba called supported racetrack gambling to fund the provincial hospital system.
During his time as an MLA, Juba remained independent of party politics and was not committed to any particular ideology. His primary accomplishment was securing reform for the province's outdated liquor laws.
Juba ran for the mayor's office again in 1954, this time placing second to alderman George Sharpe
. He was finally successful in 1956, after a campaign in which he referred to Sharpe as Premier Campbell's "trained seal", and promised to fight harder for the city's fair share of provincial revenues. On election day, Juba received 46,197 votes to Sharpe's 44,266. Most of his support came from the city's ethnically diverse north-end, and his election was seen as a major victory for the city's non-Anglo-Saxon
communities. One local newspaper described the result as a "big upset", and provincial CCF leader Lloyd Stinson
later called it "a pretty shocking experience for South Winnipeg".
Juba was also re-elected as an MLA in the provincial election of 1958
, this time defeating CCF candidate Art Coulter
in the redistributed, single-member riding of Logan. He did not seek re-election again in 1959, choosing to concentrate on his responsibilities at city hall. (In 1966, Juba considered running in the provincial riding of Inkster against New Democrat
Len Stevens
, but withdrew after Sidney Green replaced Stevens as the NDP candidate.)
Juba was an extremely flamboyant mayor, and was highly skilled at using the media to win support for his causes. He was a strong promoter of Winnipeg on the world stage: in 1967, he oversaw the Pan-American Games in the city. Though he presented himself as a spokesman for marginalized groups in the city's north end, he was not a social democrat, and often had a difficult relationship with the provincial CCF and its successor, the NDP. Some have referred to him as a "pro-business populist".
Juba supported the amalgamation of Winnipeg during the late 1960s, and convinced the government of Edward Schreyer
to grant direct mayoral elections in the unified city (Schreyer had initially favoured a parliamentary model of government, in which the elected councillors would chose a mayor from among themselves.) Not surprisingly, Juba himself became the first mayor of the unified city in 1971. He was opposed by the city's right-wing Independent Citizens' Election Committee during the 1970s, and frequently clashed with ICEC leader and Deputy Mayor Bernie Wolfe
. Notwithstanding this, he also endorsed a variety of urban development projects that were promoted by ICEC leaders.
While Juba was usually an ally of NDP Premier
Edward Schreyer
in the 1970s, he also frequently clashed with ministers such as Russell Doern
over the allocation of provincial resources. In 1977, he campaigned against NDP candidates in the number of Winnipeg ridings.
He was initially a candidate for re-election in the mayoral election of 1977, but unexpectedly withdrew at the last moment. Most suspect that he timed his departure to prevent Wolfe from succeeding him in 1980. ICEC opponent Robert Steen
was able to win a narrow victory in the election which followed, primarily with support from Juba's north-end base.
Juba made another unexpected foray into electoral politics in the provincial election of 1981
, running as an independent candidate in his old riding of Logan. He was resoundingly defeated by NDP candidate Maureen Hemphill
, and did not attempt any further comebacks after this.
The Stephen Juba Park
was opened in Winnipeg in 1984. In 1986, Michael Czuboka published Juba, a biography of the former mayor.
In 1970, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(July 1, 1914 in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
– May 2, 1993) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...
from 1953 to 1959, and served as the 37th Mayor of Winnipeg from 1957 to 1977. He was the first Ukrainian Canadian
Ukrainian Canadian
A Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group; and giving Canada the world's third-largest...
to hold high political office in the city.
Juba left school at age fifteen, when his family could no longer pay for his education. His father, a building contractor, saw his practice decline after the stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
of 1929. Juba worked in odd jobs for several years, and also started two small businesses before he was twenty-one: Weston Builders Ltd. and S.N. Juba & Co. These names reflected Juba's gift for self-promotion. Weston Builders Ltd. was not actually an incorporated company; Juba had simply added "Ltd." to its name to make it "look official". In the case of S.N. Juba & Co., he added a fictitious middle initial because he thought it "sounded good". He was largely unsuccessful as a businessman until 1945, when he started a wholesale distributing firm called Keystone Supply Ltd, which would make him wealthy.
Juba's first forays into electoral politics were unsuccessful. He ran as an independent candidate in Winnipeg North Centre
Winnipeg North Centre
Winnipeg North Centre was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented by a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 2004...
in the Canadian federal election of June 1949
Canadian federal election, 1949
The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
, against rising CCF star Stanley Knowles
Stanley Knowles
Stanley Howard Knowles, PC, OC was a Canadian parliamentarian. Knowles represented the riding of Winnipeg North Centre from 1942 to 1958 on behalf of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and again from 1962 to 1984 representing the CCF's successor, the New Democratic Party .Knowles was widely...
. He later acknowledged that had no chance of winning, but entered the race "to gain experience" and "to be educated by an expert". He received only 694 votes, finishing a very distant fourth. In the provincial election of November 1949
Manitoba general election, 1949
Manitoba's general election of November 10, 1949 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election pitted the province's coalition government, made up of the Liberal-Progressive Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, against a variety of...
, Juba ran in the riding of Winnipeg Centre
Winnipeg Centre
Winnipeg Centre is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1925 and since 1997...
as an Independent Liberal, supporting the coalition government of Douglas L. Campbell. The City of Winnipeg was divided into three provincial constituencies at the time, each of which elected four members by preferential balloting. Juba finished eighth with 1015 votes on the first ballot, and was eliminated on the fourth count.
He ran for the Winnipeg City Council in 1950 and 1952, and came surprisingly close to winning on the second occasion. He challenged Winnipeg mayor Garnet Coulter
Garnet Coulter
Garnet Coulter QC was a Canadian politician serving as an alderman and the 35th Mayor of Winnipeg.After graduating with a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Manitoba, Coulter served as a lawyer in Winnipeg since 1907...
later in 1952, and received 28,000 votes to Coulter's 38,000 (CCF candidate Donovan Swailes
Donovan Swailes
Donovan Swailes was a politician and musician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a member of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation from 1945 to 1959....
finished third with 22,000). Juba called for reform of the province's liquor laws during this campaign.
With an increased civic profile, Juba ran again as an independent in the 1953 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1953
Manitoba's general election of June 8, 1953 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. This was the first election held in Manitoba after the breakup of a ten-year coalition government led by the Liberal-Progressives and Progressive Conservatives...
. He finished second in Winnipeg Centre, and secured election on the eighth count. During this election, Juba called supported racetrack gambling to fund the provincial hospital system.
During his time as an MLA, Juba remained independent of party politics and was not committed to any particular ideology. His primary accomplishment was securing reform for the province's outdated liquor laws.
Juba ran for the mayor's office again in 1954, this time placing second to alderman George Sharpe
George Sharpe (politician)
George Edward Sharpe was a Canadian politician serving as an alderman and the 36th Mayor of Winnipeg.He became a Winnipeg alderman in 1946 and served in that role until his election as Mayor for 1955 and 1956....
. He was finally successful in 1956, after a campaign in which he referred to Sharpe as Premier Campbell's "trained seal", and promised to fight harder for the city's fair share of provincial revenues. On election day, Juba received 46,197 votes to Sharpe's 44,266. Most of his support came from the city's ethnically diverse north-end, and his election was seen as a major victory for the city's non-Anglo-Saxon
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
communities. One local newspaper described the result as a "big upset", and provincial CCF leader Lloyd Stinson
Lloyd Stinson
Lloyd Stinson was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, and the leader of that province's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1953 to 1959. Although widely regarded as a capable leader, he was unable to achieve a major electoral breakthrough for his party.Stinson was born in Treherne,...
later called it "a pretty shocking experience for South Winnipeg".
Juba was also re-elected as an MLA in the provincial election of 1958
Manitoba general election, 1958
Manitoba's general election of June 16, 1958 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was the first to be held in Manitoba after a comprehensive electoral redistribution in 1956...
, this time defeating CCF candidate Art Coulter
Art Coulter
Arthur Edmund Coulter was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League....
in the redistributed, single-member riding of Logan. He did not seek re-election again in 1959, choosing to concentrate on his responsibilities at city hall. (In 1966, Juba considered running in the provincial riding of Inkster against New Democrat
New Democratic Party of Manitoba
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...
Len Stevens
Len Stevens
Herbert Leonard Stevens was a British composer, specializing in light music but producing works in many other categories. Among the well-known pieces he composed was "News Scoop", used as the first theme tune to Grandstand on BBC television, and "Easy Street".-External links:...
, but withdrew after Sidney Green replaced Stevens as the NDP candidate.)
Juba was an extremely flamboyant mayor, and was highly skilled at using the media to win support for his causes. He was a strong promoter of Winnipeg on the world stage: in 1967, he oversaw the Pan-American Games in the city. Though he presented himself as a spokesman for marginalized groups in the city's north end, he was not a social democrat, and often had a difficult relationship with the provincial CCF and its successor, the NDP. Some have referred to him as a "pro-business populist".
Juba supported the amalgamation of Winnipeg during the late 1960s, and convinced the government of Edward Schreyer
Edward Schreyer
Edward Richard Schreyer , commonly known as Ed Schreyer, is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation....
to grant direct mayoral elections in the unified city (Schreyer had initially favoured a parliamentary model of government, in which the elected councillors would chose a mayor from among themselves.) Not surprisingly, Juba himself became the first mayor of the unified city in 1971. He was opposed by the city's right-wing Independent Citizens' Election Committee during the 1970s, and frequently clashed with ICEC leader and Deputy Mayor Bernie Wolfe
Bernie Wolfe
Bernie Wolfe, CM, OB is a retired politician in Manitoba, Canada.-Personal and family:Wolfe family one of the pioneer families of TransconaBorn in 1922 in Transcona, Manitoba Attended Transcona Collegiate...
. Notwithstanding this, he also endorsed a variety of urban development projects that were promoted by ICEC leaders.
While Juba was usually an ally of NDP Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
Edward Schreyer
Edward Schreyer
Edward Richard Schreyer , commonly known as Ed Schreyer, is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 22nd since Canadian Confederation....
in the 1970s, he also frequently clashed with ministers such as Russell Doern
Russell Doern
Russell Doern was a Manitoba politician. He served as a cabinet minister in the New Democratic government of Edward Schreyer , but left the New Democratic Party in 1984....
over the allocation of provincial resources. In 1977, he campaigned against NDP candidates in the number of Winnipeg ridings.
He was initially a candidate for re-election in the mayoral election of 1977, but unexpectedly withdrew at the last moment. Most suspect that he timed his departure to prevent Wolfe from succeeding him in 1980. ICEC opponent Robert Steen
Robert Steen
Robert Ashley Steen was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1966 to 1969, and later served as the 38th Mayor of Winnipeg from 1977 to 1979.Steen was educated at the University of Manitoba and the Manitoba Law...
was able to win a narrow victory in the election which followed, primarily with support from Juba's north-end base.
Juba made another unexpected foray into electoral politics in the provincial election of 1981
Manitoba general election, 1981
The Manitoba general election of November 17, 1981 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the opposition New Democratic Party, which took 34 of 57 seats. The governing Progressive Conservative Party took the remaining 23, while the...
, running as an independent candidate in his old riding of Logan. He was resoundingly defeated by NDP candidate Maureen Hemphill
Maureen Hemphill
Maureen Hemphill was a Manitoba politician. She served in the cabinet of NDP Premier Howard Pawley, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the party's leadership in 1988....
, and did not attempt any further comebacks after this.
The Stephen Juba Park
Stephen Juba Park
The Stephen Juba Park, named after Stephen Juba, is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is a waterfront park on the western bank of the Red River and runs from downtown Winnipeg to the Exchange District. The park features bike paths, landscaping and a Water Taxi dock.-References:...
was opened in Winnipeg in 1984. In 1986, Michael Czuboka published Juba, a biography of the former mayor.
In 1970, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.