Leonard Barry Pashak (April 21, 1937February 3, 2021) was a Canadian college instructor and politician. He served as 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 sin ...

(MLA) from 1986 to 1993, sitting with the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus. He was one of the first two NDP MLAs to be elected in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.Calgary on April 21, 1937. He grew up in the

Mission district The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

of Calgary, and attended Holy Angels School and St. Mary's School. He studied engineering at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

and obtained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

from the University of Calgary in 1962. He earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in Sociology from the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

in 1971. The title of his thesis was "The Populist characteristics of the Social Credit movement in Alberta". He subsequently taught mathematics and then sociology and political science at

Mount Royal University Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History Mount Royal University was founded by Alberta provincial charter by the Arthur Sifton government on December 16, 1910 and officially opened on September 8, ...

for more than 25 years.

Political career

Perennial candidate

Pashak got his start as a perennial candidate by running for a seat to the Alberta Legislature for the first time 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 Progre ...

as a candidate for the

Alberta NDP The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Demo ...

in the electoral district of Calgary-North Hill. He finished a distant third out of four in the hotly contested race behind incumbent Social Credit MLA Robert Simpson and winning Progressive Conservative candidate

Roy Farran Major Roy Alexander Farran (2 January 1921 – 2 June 2006) was a British-Canadian soldier, politician, farmer, author and journalist. He was highly decorated for his exploits with the Special Air Service (SAS) during the Second World War. Far ...

. One year later, Pashak ran in his first federal election. He stood as a federal New Democratic Party candidate running in the 1972 federal election in the Calgary North federal electoral district. Pashak once again finished a distant third place out of five candidates losing to Progressive Conservative incumbent Eldon Woolliams. He attempted a second run at federal politics running for a seat in the 1979 federal election. For the third time he finished third place in his district. He ran in the federal electoral district of

Calgary East Calgary East was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, 1979 to 1988, from 1997 to 2015. It was a lower income urban riding in Calgary, with a sizable visible min ...

for the NDP. He was defeated by Progressive Conservative incumbent

John Kushner John Kushner (June 22, 1923 – March 2, 1984) was a Canadian federal and provincial level politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1975 to 1979 and then served as a Member of Parliament from 1979 until his d ...

and also finished behind former MLA

Albert Ludwig Albert Ludwig (November 14, 1919 – February 16, 2019) was a Canadian politician and World War II combat veteran, lawyer, judge and author from Alberta. Early life Ludwig was born in 1919 in Melfort, Saskatchewan. Ludwig joined the Canadian A ...

in the field of seven candidates. The minority government of

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

fell less than a year later resulting in the 1980 federal election. Pashak ran for a second time in the electoral district of Calgary East. The election was a virtual rerun with Pashak facing Kushner and Ludwig for the second time. On election night Pashak finished third out of the eight candidates but lost almost 700 votes from his 1979 total. He finished behind Kushner and Ludwig respectively. Pashak returned to provincial politics running as a candidate in the 1982 provincial election in the electoral district of

Calgary-Buffalo Calgary-Buffalo is a current provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of ...

. He finished a distant third out of four for the fifth time in his career behind winner Progressive Conservative candidate Brian Lee and defeated incumbent

Tom Sindlinger Thomas L. Sindlinger (born September 2, 1941) is a politician in Alberta, Canada, and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was born in Camrose, Alberta. Tom Sindlinger was elected as a member for the district of Calgary-Buffa ...

. Two years later, he attempted his fourth and final run at federal politics running in the electoral district of Calgary East for the third straight time. He finished a distant third out of eight in the open district behind winner Progressive Conservative candidate

Alex Kindy Alex Kindy, M.D. (January 8, 1930 - May 6, 2011) was a Canadian former politician. Kindy was born in Warsaw, Poland. His first attempt at entering federal politics was in the 1962 federal election when he ran as an "Independent Liberal" in the ...

and former Mayor Rod Sykes.

Legislative assembly

Pashak made an electoral breakthrough when he ran for a seat in the 1986 provincial election in the electoral district of Calgary-Forest Lawn, which was a stronghold for the Progressive Conservatives. The race was hotly contested with nine candidates running. Pashak won the district on heavy vote splitting, finishing slightly ahead of Progressive Conservative candidate

Moe Amery Moe Amery (né Amiri; September 20, 1954) is a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, who represented the constituency of Calgary-East as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Amery was born Moe Amiri (he changed his name so ...

to win his first term in office. He and Bob Hawkesworth were the first NDP MLAs to be elected in Calgary and in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017. Pashak was the NDP's opposition critic for the

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

during his time in the legislature. He was also chair of the public accounts committee. Hawkesworth recounted how Pashak endeavoured to improve documentation and disclosure during his tenure as chair. His efforts laid the foundation for "much better fiscal reporting" than previously in place. He was a strong proponent of what has become International Avenue, a district in Calgary that features restaurants and shops of various cultures. Pashak was also noted for his "strong friendship" with

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

, which began when the latter was

mayor of Calgary This is a list of mayors of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. List of Mayors of Calgary See also *List of Calgary municipal elections *Calgary City Council Notes References SourcesBiographies of Calgary's mayors from the City of Calgary web pa ...

and extended to when he became premier. This was despite the fact that the two were on opposite sides of the

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

. Pashak ran for a second term in office in the 1989 provincial election, facing Amery for the second time. Both candidates increased their popular vote in the hotly contested race. Pashak defeated Amery and two other candidates by a larger margin then in 1986 to return to office. Calgary-Forest Lawn was subsequently abolished due to redistribution in 1993. Pashak ran for re-election in the provincial electoral district of Calgary-East, facing Amery for the third consecutive election. Amery's vote surged in the new district while Pashak's popular vote sank from the previous general election. Pashak finished a distant second out of five candidates.

Later life

Pashak briefly returned to the Alberta provincial political scene in 2000 to become leader of The Equity Party, a minor centrist political party in Alberta. He served in that capacity until 2001. He took up competitive

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

after retiring from politics. He later endorsed Dave Taylor in the latter's run for leadership of the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

in 2008. Taylor ultimately finished runner-up to

David Swann David Richard Swann (born June 19, 1949) is a Canadian medical doctor and politician. He was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Alberta Legislature from December 2008 until resigning as party leader in ...

. Pashak suffered a stroke in around 2010, which rendered him unable to speak. He died on February 3, 2021, in Calgary, at the age of 83.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pashak, Barry 1937 births 2021 deaths Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs Alberta political party leaders New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Politicians from Calgary