Stephen Juba (July 1, 1914 – May 2, 1993) was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1953 to 1959, and served as the 37th Mayor of Winnipeg from 1957 to 1977. He was the first Ukrainian Canadian to hold high political office in the city.
Early life
He was born in Winnipeg He married Jennie Brow on April 14, 1946 at Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brooklands, Manitoba. They divorced in 1948. Juba Street in Brooklands was named after his brother. He later acknowledged that he did not expect to win, but entered the race "to gain experience" and "to be educated by an expert". He received only 694 votes, finishing a very distant fourth.
In the 1949 Manitoba general election in November, Juba ran in the riding of Winnipeg Centre as an Independent Liberal, supporting the coalition government of Douglas Lloyd Campbell. The City of Winnipeg was divided into three provincial constituencies at the time, each of which elected four members by preferential balloting. Juba finished eighth with 1015 votes on the first ballot, and was eliminated on the fourth count.
He ran for the Winnipeg City Council in 1950 and 1952,
Juba was a flamboyant mayor. He was skilled at using the media to win support for his causes. He was a strong promoter of Winnipeg on the world stage: in 1967, he oversaw the Pan-American Games in the city. Though he presented himself as a spokesman for marginalized groups in the city's north end, he did not adhere to social democracy and often had a difficult relationship with the CCF and its successor, the NDP. Some have referred to him as a "pro-business populist".
Juba supported the amalgamation of Winnipeg during the late 1960s. He convinced the NDP government led by Edward Schreyer to grant direct mayoral elections in the unified city. Schreyer had favoured a parliamentary model of government, in which the elected councillors would choose a mayor from among themselves.
Not surprisingly, Juba himself was elected the first mayor of the unified city in 1971. He was opposed by the city's right-wing Independent Citizens' Election Committee during the 1970s, and frequently clashed with ICEC leader and Deputy Mayor Bernie Wolfe. Notwithstanding this, he also endorsed a variety of urban development projects that were promoted by ICEC leaders.
Relationship with the NDP
In 1966, Juba considered running in the provincial riding of Inkster against New Democrat Len Stevens, but withdrew after Sidney Green replaced Stevens as the NDP candidate.
While Juba was usually an ally of NDP Premier Edward Schreyer in the 1970s, he also frequently clashed with ministers such as Russell Doern over the allocation of provincial resources. During the 1977 provincial election, he campaigned against NDP candidates in several Winnipeg ridings.
Ended his mayoralty 1977
He was initially a candidate for re-election in the mayoral election of 1977, but unexpectedly withdrew at the last moment. Most suspect that he timed his departure to prevent Wolfe from succeeding him in 1980. ICEC opponent Robert Steen was able to win a narrow victory in the election which followed, primarily with support from Juba's north-end base.
Juba made another foray into electoral politics in the provincial election of 1981, running as an independent candidate in his old riding of Logan. He garnered only 676 votes and was defeated by NDP candidate Maureen Hemphill with 3,744 votes. He did not attempt any further comebacks after this.
Legacy
The Stephen Juba Park was opened in Winnipeg in 1984. In 1986, Michael Czuboka published Juba, a biography of the former mayor.