Eugene Zwozdesky, (July 24, 1948 – January 6, 2019) was a Canadian politician in the province of

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 ...

. He served in 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 ...

from 1993 to 2015, and was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2015.

Early life

Zwozdesky was born on July 24, 1948 in

Nipawin, Saskatchewan Nipawin () is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada, on the Saskatchewan River portion of Tobin Lake. The town lies between Codette Lake, created by the Francois-Finlay Dam (built in 1986) and Tobin Lake, created by the E.B. Campbell Dam built in ...

to Ukrainian-Canadian parents Alec and Anna Zwozdesky and came to Alberta at the age of two. He lived in Grand Centre, Hinton and Sangudo before moving to

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 ...

, where he lived since 1963. After attending Victoria Composite High School, he obtained bachelor's degrees in arts and education from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

. Before becoming involved in politics, Zwozdesky worked as a teacher, administrator, professional musician, and businessman.

Political career

Zwozdesky was first elected in the

1993 Alberta general election The 1993 Alberta general election was held on June 15, 1993, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Conservative government was re-elected, taking 51 seats out of 83 (61 percent of the seats) but only having support of 45 per ...

as 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 ...

's candidate, defeating incumbent Marie Laing of the

Alberta New Democratic Party 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 Democr ...

. He was re-elected to the new riding of

Edmonton-Mill Creek Edmonton Mill Creek 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 1997 to 2019. History Edmonton-Mill Creek ...

in the

1997 Alberta general election The 1997 Alberta general election was held on March 11, 1997, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Ralph Klein's Conservatives were re-elected, with increased number of seats in the Legislature. Liberal Official Opposition los ...

. In July 1998, he left the Liberal Party caucus and sat as an Independent member after a dispute over fiscal policy. He joined the governing Progressive Conservatives a month later. In the

2001 Alberta general election The 2001 Alberta general election was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The incumbent Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, led by Ralph Klein, won a strong majority for its tenth consecutive term i ...

, he won by a generous margin over the Liberal challenger

Bharat Agnihotri Bharat Agnihotri (born April 9, 1953) is a Canadian politician and a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He represented the constituency of Edmonton-Ellerslie, sitting as a Liberal. He was elected in the 2004 election, but wa ...

. Zwozdesky was appointed to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

as Minister of

Community Development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

; after being re-elected in the

2004 Alberta general election The 2004 Alberta general election was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The election was called on October 25, 2004. Premier Ralph Klein decided to go to the polls earlier than the legislated dead ...

, he was appointed Minister of Education. On December 15, 2006, Zwozdesky was replaced in Premier

Ed Stelmach Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speaks ...

's cabinet by

Ron Liepert Ronald Liepert (born October 8, 1949) is a Canadian politician who serves as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Signal Hill in the House of Commons of Canada. He previously served in the Cabinet of Alberta as Minister of Finance, Energy, Heal ...

. He again joined the Alberta Cabinet on June 27, 2007 as Associate Minister for Capital Planning. In 2008, he was the

Minister of Aboriginal Relations Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

and

Deputy Government House Leader Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

. He was also co-chair of the Advisory Council on Alberta-Ukraine Relations, co-chair of the Cabinet Policy Committee on Public Safety and Services, and a member of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing. Zwozdesky has won numerous awards from cultural and arts organizations, as well as the 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal. Zwozdesky was re-elected in the 2012 provincial election as an incumbent PC candidate. He was defeated in the

2015 Alberta general election The 2015 Alberta general election was held on May 5, 2015, following a request of Premier Jim Prentice to the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Donald Ethell to dissolve the Legislative Assembly on April 7, 2015. This election elected members to th ...

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 ...

candidate Denise Woollard.

Personal life and death

Zwozdesky joined the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers in 1963, and danced in the troupe for six years before becoming the

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

, composing and conducting Shumka's music for twenty-five years; he also served in the same role for the

Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Company Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Company ( uk, Український Танцювалний Ансамбль "Черемош", translit. ''Ukrayinskiy Tantsyuvalniy Ansambl "Cheremosh"'') is a Ukrainian dance company based in Edmonton, Alberta and a lea ...

. He was involved in various other cultural organizations, was the executive director of the

Alberta Cultural Heritage Foundation 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 Territ ...

and the Alberta Ukrainian Canadian Centennial Commission, and has served on various voluntary boards. He was married to Christine, with two children. He died of cancer on January 6, 2019, aged 70.

Electoral record

References

External links

Alberta Legislative Assembly biography Gene ZwozdeskyEdmonton Mill Creek political history, CBC News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwozdesky, Gene 1948 births 2019 deaths Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Canadian male dancers People from Nipawin, Saskatchewan Politicians from Edmonton Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 21st-century Canadian politicians Deaths from cancer in Alberta