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Manitoba Legislative Library

Legislative Reporting in Early Manitoba Newspapers

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The Legislative Reporting database brings together published accounts of Manitoba Legislative Assembly activities as reported in the Winnipeg newspapers during the province’s earliest years.

Use the information below to become familiar with the background of the earliest accounts of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council debates as recorded in Winnipeg newspapers.

What is Legislative Reporting?

Beginning in the early 1870s, the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council debates were recorded in the newspapers of the day. Reporters from the daily and weekly newspapers provided summary accounts of business conducted in the House as well as remarks and speeches—some verbatim—delivered by members of the Legislative Assembly and Council.

From 1885 until well into the 20th century, Legislative Library staff monitored and collected these newspaper accounts. In recent years the Library had the good fortune to partner with the Speaker of the House, Honourable George Hickes, and Professor Gerald Friesen, Dept. of History at the University of Manitoba. Under this partnership, the important work of researching and scanning the newspaper accounts of debates from 1871 to 1885 proceeded. The initial momentum behind making these accounts available on the Internet to researchers around the world is largely due to this important partnership.

While newspaper accounts of the day-to-day proceedings of the Legislature are unofficial, they provide an important link to the official Journals and Sessional Papers, and Statutes of Manitoba, by offering the context in which important public policy and legislation was created, during the province’s formative years.

Newspapers and Years covered

The database contains the legislative reports of the Daily Free Press and the Daily Times, both Winnipeg papers, for the following dates:

  • 1st Parliament, 4th session, 1873-1874
  • 2nd Parliament, 1st-4th sessions, 1875-1878
  • 3rd Parliament, 1st session, 1879
  • 4th Parliament, 1st-4th sessions, 1880-1882
  • 5th Parliament, 1st-2nd sessions, 1883-1884

Read the FAQ on the database of Legislative Reporting in Early Manitoba Newspapers.

For more information on this service please contact the Legislative Library at:

Telephone: 204-945-4330 or 1-800-282-8069 and ask for extension 4330 (Manitoba only)
Fax: 204-948-1312
Email: legislative_library@gov.mb.ca