the only candidate to be elected on the first count. He repeated this performance in the 1953 election; on both occasions, his leading opponent was Bill Kardash of the communist Labour Progressive Party. Manitoba adopted a system of single-member constituencies for Winnipeg in the mid-1950s, and Gray (despite his strong objection to the new system) was easily elected for the riding of Inkster in the provincial election of 1958. He faced a slightly more serious challenge from the Progressive Conservatives in the 1959 election (in which PC leader Dufferin Roblin won an historic majority), but still defeated his leading opponent by over 1,500 votes. The CCF merged itself into the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961, and Gray joined the new party along with other members of his caucus. Gray's final election, in 1962, was the closest of his career, as he defeated Liberal candidate John Shanski by fewer than 600 votes. He died shortly before the election of 1966, and his riding was subsequently won by Sidney Green of the NDP. Gray was respected by members of all parties for his advocacy on behalf of the disadvantaged. He frequently used the phrase, "I know mine is a voice in the wilderness" in his parliamentary orations. Among the causes he championed were a provincial labour code, health insurance, child welfare legislation, mother's allowances and old age pensions. His appeals for supplementary aid for old-age pensioners were turned down fourteen years in a row by the governments of Stuart Garson and Douglas L. Campbell. Gray was voted "Citizen of the Year" by the Winnipeg Tribune in 1958. He died in Winnipeg at the age of 76. Morris Gray was the uncle of Gerald B. Gray, a Manitoba businessman, philanthropist and community leader. References External links 1889 births 1966 deaths Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs 20th-century Canadian politicians Winnipeg city councillors People from Gomel Jewish Canadian politicians Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Canada