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This article was published 6/11/2014 (2145 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Winnipeg deputy mayor and city councillor Bernie Wolfe has died at age 91.

Wolfe was deputy mayor from 1971 to 1977. He served on both Metro Winnipeg and Winnipeg city councils from 1960 to 1978.

MARC GALLANT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The dapper Bernie Wolfe was, by all accounts, a man of passion.

Winnipeg has a school and swimming pool named after him.

Jim Carr, Liberal candidate for the federal riding of Winnipeg South Centre and the former head of the Manitoba Business Council, tweeted about Wolfe's passing Thursday.

"Bernie Wolfe was passionate about his city & country. We have lost a model citizen & public servant. Deepest condolences to family & friends," Carr wrote.

Former city councillor Mike O'Shaughnessy covered Wolfe as a Free Press reporter and also served with him on city council.

He described Wolfe as "very bright" and "very forward."

"He was no shrinking violet. He called them as he saw them. When he was in a debate he went for the jugular."

Wolfe endorsed mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis in the 2010 civic election against Sam Katz.

He was a founding member and president of Heritage Winnipeg and played a major role in gaining heritage status for many of the City of Winnipeg's Exchange buildings constructed during the early 1900s.

Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg, was lavish in her praise of Wolfe.

"He was very much a mentor," she said.

Tugwell said Wolfe's experience with dealing with government was very helpful for her and he helped teach her "how to be a team player and work with government."

"His passion for the city stood out. He loved Winnipeg and loved serving people," Tugwell said.

In 2006, Wolfe was an outspoken critic of a proposed hog-processing plant in the St. Boniface Industrial Park.

OlyWest wanted to build a $200-million hog-processing and rendering plant in the park that would bring 1,100 jobs to Winnipeg.

The plant was later built in Neepawa.

"This is not the kind of industry to have in the park. You can't just chase after dollars," Wolfe told the Free Press at the time.

A 2010 article in the Free Press said during part of the 1970s "the deputy mayor was the most powerful elected official at city hall."

"For most of that period, the job was held by Bernie Wolfe, who some would argue was the real mayor of Winnipeg, and not his rival, the charismatic and mercurial Steve Juba."

During the 1960s, Wolfe was a councillor on the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg, which was responsible for regional planning and improvements.

According to the 2010 Free Press article, Wolfe asked then-premier Duff Roblin to implement a one per cent sales tax to help fund city operations. Wolfe said Roblin agreed, but kept the money for the province.

Wolfe was critical of over-reliance on property taxes.

"The size of a person's roof doesn't reflect ability to pay," Wolfe told the Free Press, explaining property taxes are regressive and antiquated.

In 1960, Wolfe was a founding member and councillor of the Metropolitan Corporation, the body that helped shape the development of the city prior to the amalgamation in 1971 into Unicity.

-- staff