Bill Norrie

William (Bill) Norrie, QC (born 1929) is a former mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba and is the current Chancellor of the University of Manitoba.

Norrie received his LLB from the University of Manitoba in 1955. While in attendance at the University of Manitoba, Norrie joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, which had been on campus since 1925. Four years later, in the 1959 provincial election, he ran as a Liberal-Progressive candidate in the Winnipeg constituency of Wellington. He finished third against Progressive Conservative incumbent Richard Seaborn.

After serving as a school trustee, Norrie was elected to serve on the Winnipeg City Council. Following the city's amalgamation, he served on council from 1971 to 1979 as a member of the Independent Citizens' Election Committee, an unofficial right-of-centre party that dominated council on most issues.

Norrie first ran for mayor of Winnipeg in 1977. He was initially considered a longshot candidate against Stephen Juba, the city's long-serving populist incumbent. When Juba unexpectedly resigned from the contest, Norrie became the favourite to replace him. Instead, Juba's supporters in the city's north end rallied around Robert Steen, a former ICEC member who ran been running third in pre-campaign polls. Steen defeated Norrie by a razor-thin margin, 69,818 votes to 67,999.

Steen died of liver cancer in 1979, and Norrie became the ICEC's candidate for the by-election which followed. He easily defeated veteran councillor Joseph Zuken, whose membership in the Communist Party disturbed some voters. Norrie was elected by a landslide, even sweeping the polls in Winnipeg's north end. After his election, Norrie vowed to stop caucusing with the ICEC.

He was re-elected in the 1980 municipal election, defeating Juba's protege Al Golden by a significant margin.

Norrie was given a third landslide victory in 1983, defeating sitting New Democratic Party MLA Brian Corrin. This election took place against the backdrop of a language battle in Manitoba, as Corrin's government was attempting to re-entrench French-language services in the province. This measure was unpopular with many English-speaking Winnipeggers, and Corrin's campaign suffered by association.

Norrie faced his most difficult re-election in 1986, but still won a convincing victory over former NDP MLA Russell Doern, who had left his party over the language issue. Doern's campaign won the traditional NDP polls of the north-end, but he was criticized by some as lacking experience in municipal affairs.

There were no opposition candidates of significance in Norrie's final mayoral run of 1989, and he defeated his nearest opponent by more than a five-to-one margin.

Norrie did not affiliate himself with any federal or provincial party during his time as mayor, which allowed him to win support from both Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. His administration followed a pro-development policy, and was conservative on economic issues. He retired as mayor in 1992.

In 1993, Norrie was appointed by the provincial government of Gary Filmon to lead the Manitoba School Divisions/Districts Boundaries Review Commission. The Commission recommended cutting the number of school districts to twenty-one. This sparked an outcry in rural areas, and the recommendation was not implemented.

In 2002, the NDP government of Gary Doer appointed Norrie as Manitoba's Conflict of Interest Commissioner.

Norrie has been involved with a number of charities, such as Habitat for Humanity, St. Boniface Hospital Research Foundatation, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Salvation Army. He has received the Order of Canada, Order of Manitoba and numerous other awards. Norrie was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1977.

Many Winnipegers are critical of Norrie due to the efforts he led to redevelop downtown Winnipeg, an initiative that resulted in the development of an underused mega-mall on the north side of Portage Avenue, which in turn damaged traditional pedestrian shopper patterns on the south side. Downtown Winnipeg is now a model of the American style doughnut-city, with a moribund downtown and wealthier suburbanites shopping in local suburban malls.