June Westbury

Who was June Westbury?

June Westbury was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1979 to 1981, sitting as a Liberal.

The daughter of Philip William Cantwell and Doris "Dolly" Halcrow, Westbury was educated at Brian's College in Auckland, New Zealand, worked for the Auckland Savings Bank and moved to Canada in 1947. In 1949, she married Peter Westbury. She served as a Winnipeg city councillor from 1971 to 1979, and was associated with the Independent Citizens' Election Committee. She served as Vice-President of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1970 to 1973, and was a member of the regional and national executives of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews.

She first ran for election to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1973, but lost to New Democrat Ian Turnbull by over 1,500 votes in the central Winnipeg riding of Osborne.

When Lloyd Axworthy resigned his seat in 1979, Westbury ran to succeed him in the riding of Fort Rouge, and defeating New Democrat Vic Savino by 368 votes. For the next two years, Westbury was the only Liberal MLA in the legislature.