He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1949 to 1953, as a member of the social-democratic Cooperative Commonwealth Federation.
Stinson later described Fines as "a quiet man with firm opinions and a flair for statistics and fiscal matters".
The independent candidates of Lewis Stubbs and Stephen Juba likely contributed to Fines's defeat.
Fines ran for the CCF in the St. Matthew's constituency, but lost to Progressive Conservative William G. Martin[1] by 822 votes.
He lost to Martin by 545 votes in the 1959 election, and finished third as a candidate of the New Democratic Party (successor to the CCF) in the 1962 campaign.