He served as a member of the St. Vital council from 1951 to 1956, and became Chairman of Finance and Deputy Mayor in 1956.
He was returned by comfortable margins in the general elections of 1959 and 1962,[1] and was a backbench supporter of Dufferin Roblin's government throughout his time in the legislature.
Some caucus members saw this as disloyalty, and called for him to be expelled; Roblin did not act on this request.
During the controversy, Groves declared his opposition to providing "any aid directly or indirectly to parochial schools", and said that he would "defend the rights of the majority".
He complained of receiving "vicious, ignorant and crude, anonymous letters" from his opponents on the subject.