Rod Clement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rodney Stewart Clement (born July 30, 1919 in Russell, Manitoba, died March 9, 1969) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Manitoba legislature from 1949 to 1959, and again from 1966 to 1968.
Clement was educated at Binscarth, Manitoba, and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1941 to 1945. After World War II, he worked as a farmer, rancher and automobile and implement dealer. He became vice-president of Frank Clement & Sons Ltd. and Clements Farm Equipment, was a partner in the Clement Bros. Bar-C ranch, and was a director of Anglo-Canadian Oil.
Clement was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1949 election for the riding of Russell as an Independent, supporting the coalition government of Douglas L. Campbell.
He was re-elected in the 1953 election as an Independent Liberal-Progressive. He was endorsed by the official Liberal-Progressive Party during the election, and promised to affiliate with "some political party" at some point in the next legislative session. Clement eventually became a full member of the Liberal-Progressive Party, as was narrowly re-elected under this party's banner in the 1958 election for the new riding of Birtle-Russell.
In the 1959 election, he lost to Progressive Conservative Robert Smellie by 224 votes. He did not contest the 1962 election, but returned to defeat Smellie by 245 votes in the 1966 election.
Clement resigned his seat on June 5, 1968 to contest the federal riding of Marquette for the Liberal Party of Canada in the federal election. He was unsuccessful, losing to Progressive Conservative Craig Stewart by over 3,500 votes. He died the following year of a brain tumor.