Edward Schreyer's leadership, the social-democratic NDP moved from third to first place, winning 28 seats out of 57 in the assembly. This was one short of a majority, and there was initial uncertainty as to which party or parties would form government. There was some consideration of an "anti-socialist coalition", which would have brought together all parties except the NDP under the leadership of former Liberal leader Gildas Molgat. This, however, did not occur. The impasse was ended when Desjardins announced that he would offer parliamentary support to the NDP, and change his party affiliation to Liberal-Democrat. Desjardins' change of affiliation was significant, and on some levels surprising. He had previously been known as an opponent of socialism, and the Franco-Manitoban community had not traditionally been supportive of the New Democratic Party before this time. Nevertheless, Desjardins formed an alliance with Schreyer (himself a centrist New Democrat), on the understanding that he would be able to continue to work in favour of denominational school funding on the government side. In order to make sure this move was supported by his constituents, Desjardins organized a vote of confidence on this decision on July 8. Had he lost this vote, Desjardins would have resigned as MLA, and would have run as a Liberal-Democrat candidate in a subsequent by-election. About 1000 people showed up at the Louis Riel School gymnasium for the vote of confidence, and Desjardins received a standing ovation when he arrived in the hall. The vast majority of the attendees gave their support to Desjardins, with only 13 people opposing him. Desjardins became Schreyer's legislative assistant in 1969, and formally joined the New Democratic Party in 1971. On December 1, 1971, Desjardins was appointed Minister of Tourism, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. In July 1972, his efforts in support of denominational schools were dealt a setback when a government-sponsored bill to permit funding was defeated by a free vote in the legislature. (The Schreyer government did, however, make administrative agreements with certain private schools to provide them with access to public monies.) Defeat and return Given the lack of historical francophone support for the NDP in Manitoba, it was unclear if Desjardins would be re-elected in the provincial election of 1973, and his riding was targeted by a right-wing "citizen's" group in the recently amalgamated city of Winnipeg (which included St. Boniface). This group convinced the Progressive Conservative Party to withdraw