Donald Orchard

Who is Donald Orchard?

Donald Warder Orchard is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1995, and was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Sterling Lyon and Gary Filmon.

The son of Warder Franklin John Orchard and Muriel Bernice King, he was born in Miami, Manitoba, and was educated at the University of Manitoba. He worked as a farmer after graduation, becoming active in the Miami Agricultural Society and the local Masonic organization. In 1969, he married Edna Jane Simpson.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1977, in the safe Conservative seat of Pembina. He was re-elected in this riding in the elections of 1981, 1986, 1988 and 1990, each time by a comfortable margin.

The Progressive Conservatives won the 1977 election under Sterling Lyon, and Orchard was appointed Minister of Highways and Transport on November 15, 1979. He was also appointed Chairman of the Provisional Land Use Committee on January 1, 1980, and was given ministerial responsibility for Manitoba Data Services on January 16, 1981.