He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1953 to 1969, and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Dufferin Roblin and Walter Weir.
He became a publisher at his father's firm of Sanford Evans & Co. Ltd., and was assistant director of Ordnance Services in the Canadian Army from 1942 to 1946, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.
In 1954, members of the Winnipeg Press Gallery unanimously endorsed him as the "most dignified man in the house" at their annual dinner.
On July 22, 1966, was promoted from Industry and Commerce to the high-profile position of Provincial Treasurer and Minister of Mines and Natural Resources.
The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1969 provincial election, and Evans lost his seat to Cy Gonick of the New Democratic Party[1] by 273 votes in the redistributed riding of Crescentwood.