Muriel Smith

Who is Muriel Smith?

Muriel Smith, OC is a Manitoba politician. She ran for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba in 1979, and subsequently served in the cabinet of NDP Premier Howard Pawley.

Smith was born as Muriel Lipsey at Britannia Beach, British Columbia, and was educated at the University of Manitoba and the Oxford Institute of Education, in Oxford, England. In 1952, she married Murray Smith, son of former Manitoba Liberal politician Charles Rhodes Smith.

She worked as a counsellor, served on the Human Rights Commission of Manitoba from 1974-78 and the Manitoba Action Centre on the Status of Women from 1975-76. She was also President of the Manitoba NDP from 1975-77.

She first ran for the provincial legislature in the 1973 provincial election, in the upscale Winnipeg riding of River Heights. She placed third, with Progressive Conservative leader Sidney Spivak winning the riding and future Liberal leader Charles Huband finishing second. Smith ran in Crescentwood in the 1977 election, losing to Progressive Conservative Warren Steen by 72 votes.

Smith was a representative of the NDP's left wing in the 1979 leadership race. Her supporters included supporters of "the Waffle" and many leading members of Manitoba's feminist community. Smith's campaign suffered a serious setback when she failed to receive the NDP nomination for a by-election in the riding of Fort Rouge. Notwithstanding, she finished a credible second place at the convention, losing to Howard Pawley.