Jim Ernst

Who is Jim Ernst?

James Arthur Ernst 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. 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. 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.