Bill Wasyl Diachuk (October 8, 1929 – October 17, 2014) was a municipal and provincial politician from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. He began his political career in Edmonton municipal politics serving two separate stints as a separate school trustee. The first was from 1962 to 1964 and the second from 1966 to 1971. He moved his political career to the provincial level where he served as a 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 ...

sitting with the governing Progressive Conservative caucus from 1971 to 1986.

Political career

Diachuk ran for election to the City of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Separate School Board. He won a seat in the 1962 Edmonton municipal election holding the third and final seat in plurality out of five candidates . He was defeated running for a second term in office in the 1964 Edmonton municipal election finishing eighth out of ten candidates. He attempted a return to the board in the 1966 municipal election this time winning the fifth place seat out of ten candidates. He was re-elected to his third term in the 1968 Edmonton municipal election again winning the fifth place seat out of twelve candidates. Diachuk ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the

1971 Alberta general election The 1971 Alberta general election was the seventeenth general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on August 30, 1971, to elect seventy-five members of the Alberta Legislature to form the 17th Alberta Legislative Assembly. The Progr ...

. He won the new electoral district of

Edmonton-Beverly Edmonton-Beverly 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 1971 to 1993. History The Edmonton-Beverly e ...

defeating incumbent Social Credit MLA

Lou Heard Louis Wesley Heard (March 8, 1909 – February 27, 1987) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta twice. The first stint was from 1948 to 1952 and the second was from 1959 to 1 ...

. He also defeated future MLA

Barrie Chivers Barrie Chivers (born November 8, 1940) is a Canadian former politician and current lawyer. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1990 to 1993 sitting with the official opposition Alberta New Democrats. Legal career C ...

who finished third out of fourth in the race. He vacated his school trustee seat after winning the provincial election. Diachuk ran for re-election in the

1975 Alberta general election The 1975 Alberta general election was held on March 26, 1975, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 18th Alberta Legislature. The election was called on February 14, 1975 prorogued and dissolved of the 17th Alberta Legi ...

. He faced four other candidates and ended up winning a higher plurality and a substantially better margin of victory. He would run for his third term in office in the

1979 Alberta general election The 1979 Alberta general election was held on March 14, 1979, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, which had been expanded to 79 seats. The Progressive Conservative Party of Peter Lougheed won its third consecutive term in go ...

. His margin of victory would shrink as he faced a hotly contested challenge from New Democrat candidate Gene Mitchell and two other candidates. After the election Premier

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding ...

appointed Diachuk to the provincial cabinet. He became a Minister without Portfolio Responsible for occupational health and safety. Diachuk ran for his fourth term in office in the

1982 Alberta general election The 1982 Alberta general election was held on November 2, 1982, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Less than four years had passed since the Progressive Conservatives won their landslide victory in 1979. Premier Peter Lou ...

. He won a personal record for his highest popular vote. Despite having a ministerial portfolio he was nearly defeated by New Democrat candidate Winston Gereluk. He would keep his portfolio when

Don Getty Donald Ross Getty (August 30, 1933 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 11th premier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992. A member of the Progressive Conservatives, he served as Energy Minister and Federal and Intergo ...

became Premier in November 1985. Diachuk ran for a fifth term in office in the 1986 general election. The election saw his popular vote collapse compared to his 1982 results. He was defeated by New Democrat candidate

Ed Ewasiuk Edward William "Eddie" Ewasiuk (September 24, 1933 – April 14, 2006) was a labour activist, a city councilor in Edmonton, Alberta and a NDP Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was born in Vegreville, ...

in a landslide. On October 17, 2014, Diachuk died at the age of 85.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diachuk, Bill Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs 1929 births 2014 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Alberta People from Vegreville Alberta school board trustees