Joseph Paul Borowski
1932-1996
The following text is taken from a 1981 book, “The Polish Canadians” by Canadian artist William Kurelek
Whether people agree or not with his choice of language or his methods of protest, many, myself included, truly admire Joe Borowski for standing up for his principles. When the N.D.P. party swept into power in Manitoba in l969 the new premier Ed Schreyer …appointed many so called “Ethnics” to his cabinet. The Minister of Transport Joe Borowski, MLA from Thompson. He proved to be a boat-rocking source of embarrassment, even to his party, on several moral issues. Some of these issues were drugs, Indians, censorship and abortions. Eventually, he resigned from the party of these issues and even went to jail rather, than pay taxes to a government that used taxpayer’s money to kill unborn children. I have represented him symbolically, as a persecuted fighter voicing protest.
An article by Winnipeg lawyer Christ Lorenc summed up Joe Borowski thus: “…Joe Borowski means well in whatever stand he takes. Some people claim that Joe is a religious fanatic out to seek personal glory. I say that Joe Borowski is a man of principle, an honest politician, a man who is probably one of the most intelligent MLA’s in the Legislature. He is not afraid to say what he feels and while doing so doesn’t mean to injure innocent people. It’s the politicians, the opportunists who strive to walk over Joe for their own ends. He has a firm believe in democracy, believing that this system tops any other in the world. Freedom of speech, of expression is very important to him, to you and me. After all, isn’t that what democracy is all about?…
