He was a Cabinet minister in the governments of Dufferin Roblin, Walter Weir and Sterling Lyon,[1] and was himself leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PCs) from 1971 to 1975.
He represented an urban and progressive wing within the party, and did not have the complete confidence of his caucus, which was dominated by more right-wing figures.
In the 1973 election, Spivak presented himself as being to the right of Premier Edward Schreyer's New Democrats, but to the left of the Liberals under Israel Asper.
In 1975, former minister Sterling Lyon, who had not held office since 1969 at that point, challenged Spivak for the Progressive Conservative leadership.
This challenge was extremely divisive, pitting Spivak's left-leaning ideology against Lyon's conservatism and dividing the PC membership accordingly.
Spivak wanted to be appointed Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba in 1993 (he would have succeeded George Johnson, his former ministerial colleague in the Roblin and Weir governments), but Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, through Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn, appointed Yvon Dumont instead.
[3] His widow Mira Spivak was a member of the Senate of Canada from Manitoba from 1986 until she took mandatory retirement on her seventy-fifth birthday in 2009.