Edward Connery

Who is Edward Connery?

Edward James Connery is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1986 to 1992, and a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative government of Gary Filmon from 1988 to 1991.

Connery was educated at Glenlawn Collegiate in St. Vital, Manitoba, and later worked as a market gardener. He was chair of the Root Crop Marketing Board from 1972 to 1981, and vice-president of the Manitoba Producers Board from 1982 to 1984, as well as having been a director of the Vegetable Growers Association of Manitoba. He married Beverley Sager.

Connery was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election, in the safe Tory seat of Portage La Prairie. The Tories were defeated by the New Democrats under Howard Pawley in this cycle, and Connery became a member of the official opposition.

Connery was re-elected in the 1988 election against a reasonably strong challenge from Liberal Darlene Hamm. The Tories under Gary Filmon formed a minority government after this election, and Connery was appointed Minister of Labour and Minister of the Environment and Workplace Safety and Health on May 9, 1988. He was also responsible for the Workers Compensation Act, the Civil Service Act, the Civil Service Superannuation Act, and the Public Servants Insurance Act. Following a cabinet shuffle on April 21, 1989, he was named Minister of Cooperative, Consumer and Corporate Affairs.