Gildas Molgat

Who was Gildas Molgat?

Gildas Laurent Molgat, CD was a Canadian politician. He served as leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party from 1961 to 1969, and was subsequently appointed to the Senate of Canada, where he served as Speaker from 1994 until 2001. He died shortly thereafter.

The son of Louis F. Molgat and Adele Abraham, Molgat was born in Ste. Rose du Lac, Manitoba. He was educated at Ste. Rose School and the University of Manitoba. He worked as a manager for Bethel-Rennie Ltd. United Stores and Advance Credit Corporation, and served as an army captain in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. He was married to Allison Malcolm.

Molgat was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1953, in the francophone riding of Ste. Rose. He was a Liberal-Progressive, and a supporter of Premier Douglas Lloyd Campbell.

The Liberal-Progressives lost the election of 1958, though Molgat was easily re-elected over his Progressive Conservative opponent. This was partly the result of historical francophone voting patterns in the province—most Franco-Manitobans supported the Progressive Party of John Bracken in the 1920s, and continued to support the party after it merged with the Liberals in 1932. Although Dufferin Roblin's Tories made several gains in 1958, the province's francophone ridings continued to elect Liberal-Progressive MLAs.