Peter Fox

Who was Peter Fox?

Peter Fox was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1966 to 1986. From 1971 to 1977, he served as Speaker of the legislature.

The son of George Fox and Maria Mildovan, Fox was born in Yugoslavia shortly after that country's creation, and moved to Canada with his parents at a young age. He was educated at the University of Manitoba, and worked as a stationary engineer. Fox served with the Canadian Forces in Europe during World War II, and was subsequently a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and the Winnipeg and Canada German Club. He was actively involved in the labour movement, was a vice-president of the Winnipeg and District Labour Council during the 1960s. Fox returned to his job at Canada Packers after the war. In 1948, he married Nancy Grant.

Fox was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1966, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent James Mills by 836 votes in the east-end Winnipeg riding of Kildonan. Along with most other members of the NDP caucus, he supported Edward Schreyer's bid to become party leader in 1968-69.