[4] He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1966 to 1986, and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Edward Schreyer and Howard Pawley.
He argued that rural taxation was disproportionately high, and favoured shifting education taxes from land to homeownership.
He also brought forward legislation to provide for a publicly owned land system to relieve farmers of the burden of investment (this was an optional, not a mandatory program).
He declined to run for the leadership himself later in the year,[4] despite efforts by supporters such as Herb Schulz and Harry Shafransky to mobilize a candidacy.
He was relieved of the former position on August 20, 1982, and of the latter on November 4, 1983, when he was appointed Minister of Business Development and Tourism with responsibility for the Manitoba Telephone System Act.
[1] Uskiw did not run for re-election in 1986, and in fact supported the Progressive Conservative candidate in Lac Du Bonnet (who was defeated).
Uskiw also spoke at meetings of Green's Progressive Party, in which he argued that demands from the trade union movement had undermined his ministerial independence during the Pawley years.