Morris Gray

Morris Abraham Gray (May 16, 1889-January 22, 1966) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the provincial legislature from 1941 to 1966, and was a prominent figure in the province's social-democratic Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) during this period.

Gray was born to Abraham and Sara Gur-Arie, a Jewish family in Gomel (now in Belarus), and received a high school education in that region. He arrived in Canada in 1908, a committed leftist following the attempted revolution of 1905. In 1911, he married Sonia Bruser.

Gray was a founder of the Canadian Jewish Congress, and at one stage served as its national Vice-President. He also became a member of the Mount Sinai Masonic Lodge and the Jewish Children's Aid Society, and was an Executive Member of the Canada Club.

Gray served as a member of the Winnipeg School Board from 1926 to 1930, and was an Alderman in the city of Winnipeg from 1930 to 1942. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1941, in the riding of Winnipeg. At the time, Winnipeg elected ten members by preferential balloting. Gray topped the CCF list on the first count, with 3,086 votes (ahead of party leader Seymour Farmer), finishing in eighth place overall. Gray and Farmer were subsequently elected on transfers, although longtime Independent Labour Party/CCF Member of the Legislative Assembly John Queen was defeated.

The 1941 election took place in a period of reduced support for the provincial CCF. The party had joined an all-party coalition government the previous year, with Farmer serving as Minister of Labour under Liberal-Progressive Premier John Bracken. The alliance proved disastrous for the CCF, who regularly saw their initiatives thwarted by the other parties. The demoralized party won only three seats in the entire province. After the alliance ended in 1943, Gray played a prominent role in rebuilding the CCF's organization.

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