'He had a lot of horsepower': Former Dauphin-area MP Robert Sopuck dead at 73

Robert Sopuck, a former Manitoba member of Parliament and outdoor enthusiast who championed the rural way of life, died Wednesday at the age of 73.

Sopuckwas first elected in a byelection in 2010 andrepresented the western Manitoba ridings of Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, and laterDauphin-Swan River-Neepawa, until he retired from politics in 2019.

In 2015, Sopuck told CBC he wanted to be an MP because he felt "very strongly that it's important to protect and defend therural life, rural cultureand the rural economy."

Hespecialized in conservation issues, such as protecting fisheries and wildlife.

Sopuckled the federal Conservatives on various conservation matters, while servingas chair of the party'shunting and angling caucus.

"He dedicated his life to conservation, living his life outdoors and the public at large," his step-daughter Marsha Street said Thursday.

As an MP, Sopuckalso servedas a member of the standing committees for environment and sustainable development andfor fisheries and oceans.

Influential on grassroots, national levels:Wildlife Federation

Carly Deacon, managing director with Manitoba Wildlife Federation, said she worked with Sopuckon and off for around 25 years.

"He was so connected on a grassroots level, but he was also so influential on a national level in terms ofpromoting and advocating for hunting and angling and trapping," she said.

"He waspretty inspirational in our little outdoor community."

Deacon said Sopuckvolunteered for numerous causes and acted as hersounding board as she lobbied political players.

She also got to see him "in his element" when he was teaching fly-fishing or hunting.

"I don't know where he found the time. That guy, he was gardening, he was farming, he was hunting, he was fishing. He was a politician. He was a family man. Hewas pretty incrediblehe had a lot of horsepower."

During his nine years in federalpolitics, Sopuck also served as chair ofthe Canada-Ukraine parliamentary friendship group, a non-partisan group that advocatesfor positive relations between the two countries. The Dauphin area, which Sopuck represented, has strong connections to Ukrainian culture.

Sopuckpreviously worked as afisheries biologist and a newspaper columnist, writingabout hunting, fishing and conservation.