Jim Maloway

Early life and career

Maloway was born in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Manitoba (1975). He later worked for the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission as a liquor inspector, and was executive assistant to the Minister of Colleges and Universities and Tourism. He has owned the Maloway & Eliason Insurance & Travel Centre since 1978, operating it for many years with the late Magnus Eliason.

Maloway was the Returning Officer for the Winnipeg division of Wolseley in the 1973 provincial election. Official results on election night showed a tie between Manitoba Liberal Party leader Izzy Asper and New Democratic Party candidate Murdoch MacKay. Maloway initially cast a tiebreaking vote for MacKay, although a subsequent recount showed Asper elected by four votes.

Maloway joined the New Democratic Party in 1971. He was a candidate for the Winnipeg City Council in 1974 and 1983, and unsuccessfully sought the federal NDP nomination for Winnipeg North Centre in 1984.

Member of the Legislative Assembly

Maloway was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election over incumbent Russell Doern, a former New Democrat who had left the party two years earlier. The NDP won a narrow majority government under Howard Pawley, and Maloway served as a government backbencher.

The Pawley government was unexpectedly defeated in the legislature in early 1988, when disgruntled backbencher Jim Walding voted with the opposition on a motion of non-confidence. Pawley resigned as party leader, but remained premier in a caretaker administration until a new provincial election could be held. Maloway supported Maureen Hemphill's bid to succeed Pawley in the leadership contest that followed; she finished fourth against Gary Doer.

The NDP entered the 1988 provincial election very low in the public opinion polls, and some insiders privately worried that the party could lose all of its seats. Maloway narrowly retained the Elmwood division against a strong challenge from the Liberal Party. The Progressive Conservatives under Gary Filmon won a minority government, while the NDP fell to third-party status. In opposition, Maloway served as his party's critic for Consumer and Corporate Affairs, and deputy critic for Finance.

Maloway was an opponent of the Meech Lake Accord, an unsuccessful attempt at constitutional reform that would have delegated powers from the federal government to the provinces and recognized Quebec as a distinct society within Canada. The accord required approval from all ten of Canada's provincial legislatures to be passed into law; Maloway supported the decision of fellow NDP MLA Elijah Harper to block the accord's passage through procedural tactics, and indicated that he considered taking a similar approach himself.

He was re-elected in the 1990 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Vic Toews. In 1991, he argued that Manitoba should adopt Quebec's system of no-fault auto insurance. He also argued that the Public Utilities Board should be given the power to regulate gas prices, in order to prevent price gouging.

Maloway was re-elected by an increased margin in 1995. He criticized the state of Manitoba's real estate sector later in the same year, arguing that it was being run in a haphazard manner. He later expressed concern that parts of Manitoba's Autopac system would be sold off to the private sector, and accused the Filmon government of privatizing the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission by stealth.

After eleven years in opposition, the New Democratic Party was returned to government in the 1999 provincial election. Maloway was returned in Elmwood without difficulty, and was re-elected again in 2003 and 2007 by significant margins. He sat as a backbench supporter of Gary Doer's government, and was described in a 2007 newspaper report as a left-leaning maverick.

Maloway criticized Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray's "New Deal for Winnipeg" in the early 2000s, arguing that the city should correct its own finances instead of appealing for aid from other levels of government. In 2007, he criticized his party's decision to abandon its "one member, one vote" method of leadership selection and return to its former model of delegated conventions. He argued that the change would take power away from ordinary party members.

In May 2008, Maloway called on the provincial government to ensure that municipal repairs to the Disraeli Bridge in northeast Winnipeg would be carried out in a way that benefited the public interest. He expressed concern that traffic bottlenecks would occur if the bridge was completely blocked for several months, and called for the bridge to be expanded from four to six lanes. Some municipal politicians criticized this plan, and accused him of opportunism. Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz launched into a personal attack on Maloway during a council debate, for which he was criticized by the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper.

Federal politics

Maloway was among a group of Manitoba MLAs who sought to persuade former Manitoba Premier Edward Schreyer to run for the federal NDP leadership in 1989. He supported Lorne Nystrom's bid to become NDP leader in 1995, and endorsed Bill Blaikie in 2003.

After Blaikie announced his retirement from the Canadian House of Commons in 2007, Maloway indicated he would seek the NDP nomination to succeed him in the federal Elmwood—Transcona riding. He won the nomination over rival candidates Lorene Mahoney and Kevin Rebeck on September 7, 2008. Maloway made the Disraeli bridge his main issue in the 2008 federal election, and was elected over former Winnipeg Jets player Thomas Steen, who had been recruited as a star candidate by the Conservatives. The Conservatives won a minority government nationally, and Maloway was appointed as the NDP Critic for Science and Technology.

Maloway introduced a Private Member's Bill known as the "Airline Passenger's Bill of Rights" in February 2009. The bill would require airlines to include hidden fees and taxes in their advertised ticket prices, reimburse passengers who are bumped from overbooked flights by up to $1,200, and provide compensation for passengers who are left stranded on airport tarmacs for long periods of time. It has won the support of consumer advocacy groups, and Maloway has said that it will force airlines to act more responsibly. The National Airlines Council of Canada has opposed the measure, and has said that it will strengthen protection for travelers under an existing federal initiative. Maloway's bill narrowly passed second reading in the House of Commons in May 2009. On May 29, 2009, Maloway wrote a guest editorial defending the bill in the National Post newspaper.

Maloway has spoken against proposed free trade deals between Canada and the governments of Peru and Colombia.

Return to provincial politics

Following his defeat in the federal election, Maloway was nominated by the Manitoba NDP in his former seat of Elwood, to succeed the retiring Bill Blaikie, and is the party's candidate in the October 4, 2011 provincial election.

Electoral record

Source: Elections Canada

All provincial electoral information is taken from Elections Manitoba. Municipal results are taken from the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper, 24 October 1974 and 27 October 1983. The final official results were not significantly different.