Bill Bonko is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and former member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

. He was first elected in the 2004 election as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Edmonton Decore Edmonton-Decore is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. It was most recently conte ...

, but was defeated in his

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

re-election bid by Progressive Conservative Janice Sarich.

Early life

Bill Bonko graduated from Queen Elizabeth High School.
Bonko's legislature biography He worked for fifteen years as the circulation manager for the

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

Political career

Bonko first sought political office in the 1995 municipal election, when he was elected to the Board of

Edmonton Public Schools Edmonton Public Schools (legally Edmonton School Division) is the largest public school division in Edmonton, the second largest in Alberta, and the sixth largest in Canada. The division offers a variety of alternative and special needs programs, ...

as trustee for Ward A. He was re-elected in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

elections. He did not seek re-election at the conclusion of his third term. Instead, he ran for the

in the 2004 provincial election as a

. He won 44.63% of the vote and defeated his opponents, who included former MLA

Walter Szwender Walter Richard Szwender is a former provincial level politician and teacher from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1982 until 1986. Political career Szwender ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislat ...

who was running for the Progressive Conservatives and Gary Masyk, an incumbent MLA whose riding had been abolished and who had crossed the floor to become the

Alberta Alliance The Alberta Alliance was a right wing provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Many of its members were supporters of the defunct Canadian Alliance federal political party and its predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada. Members also joined f ...

's first MLA after being elected as PC. He did not sponsor any bills during his time in the legislature, and was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Janice Sarich in the 2008 election.

Personal life

Bonko is married to Michele; the pair has two children, including Bill Jr. who ran as a Liberal candidate in

Athabasca-Redwater Athabasca-Redwater was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 2004 to 2012. The district in rural northern ...

in the 2008 provincial election.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonko, Bill Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Living people Politicians from Edmonton Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian politicians