William Boytchuk (April 27, 1922 – January 22, 1998) was a longtime city councillor in

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. He was born near Sniatyn,

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and after spending several years in Germany immigrated to Canada in 1948. Working as a pharmacist he became active in the local Ukrainian committee. Boytchuk was elected to city council in the 1969 election representing the westernmost part of the Old City of Toronto covering Swansea and

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. He was considered one of the council's "Old Guard" of conservative, generally pro-development councillors but became more moderate over his time in office. During the Cold War he was also notable for his strong anti-Soviet policies. He played a central role in having a monument to the

Katyn Massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

erected in his ward. In 1990 he also led the effort to oppose a

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agreement with

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...

."Debate rages, again, over Soviet twin city Toronto urged not to team up with Volgograd." Susan Reid. ''Toronto Star.'' Feb 13, 1990. pg. A.6 In the 1976 election Boytchuk lost his seat in a surprise upset to left winger David White. He thus decided to run provincially for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1977 Ontario election for the riding of

High Park—Swansea High Park—Swansea was a provincial riding (electoral district) in the west-end of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1999. It was created during the 1975 riding redist ...

. He lost that race in a close contest to NDP incumbent Ed Ziemba. With the retirement of

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, the other councillor in his old seat, Boytchuk returned to council in 1978. He continued to represent his west end seat until he retired in 1994. In 1964, he served as the president of the National Soccer League until the 1968 season.

References

{{reflist Toronto city councillors 1922 births 1998 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidates in Ontario provincial elections Soccer people from Ontario Polish emigrants to Canada