Maitland B. Steinkopf, a 50-year-old Winnipeg attorney and civic leader, was sworn in as Provincial Secretary and Minister of Public Utilities in the Manitoba Cabinet. This is the first time a Jew has been named to a Cabinet in any Canadian province other than Ontario.
In announcing the appointment, Premier Duff Roblin said the new Minister brought to his post considerable business and legal ability and a unique administrative talent. As provincial Minister, Mr. Steinkopf’s jurisdiction includes the civil service commission and the operations of the Queen’s Printer and the province’s centralized purchasing bureau.
The new Minister served in the Queen’s Cameron Highlanders in World War II as a private, finishing as a lieutenant colonel in the Ordinance Corps. He has been president and director of a wide variety of business firms and a governor of the Winnipeg YMHA and Winnipeg General Hospital. He has served as Manitoba chairman of Israel Bonds and Bar-Ilan University. He has been a co-chairman of the United Jewish Appeal. His father, Max Steinkopf, came to Canada in 1889 and was the first Jewish attorney in Western Canada.
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