Lubomir "Lui" Temelkovski ( mk, Љубомир Темелковски, translit=Ljubomir Temelkovski) (born October 4, 1954) is a former

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 ...

federal politician. He was 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 ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

from 2004 to 2008 who represented the riding of

Oak Ridges—Markham Oak Ridges—Markham was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Its population in 2006 was 169,645., with 136,755 electors, the highest of any riding in Canad ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Background

Temelkovski was born

Brajčino Brajčino ( mk, Брајчино, ) is a village in the Resen Municipality of North Macedonia, situated from Lake Prespa, on Baba Mountain in Pelister National Park. The village is also located near the border with Greece. Brajčino's nature ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

which is now part of the Republic of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. His family emigrated to Canada in 1968. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

. He worked as a sales manager for Freedom 55 Financial, a Canadian financial services company. He and his wife Loretta live in Markham where they raised four children. He is fluent in Italian and Macedonian.

Politics

In the

2004 Canadian federal election The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority but was able to continue ...

, Temelkovski ran as the

candidate in the new riding of

. He defeated

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate Bob Callow by 11,252 votes. He served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

supporter of the

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

government. Temelkovski was the first Canadian Member of Parliament of Macedonian heritage. In 2004, he was appointed to serve on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. He also served as the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on International Trade. He was re-elected in the 2006 election once again defeating Callow. The Liberals lost the election and he served one term in opposition. During that time he served as critic for Public Works and Government Services. In the 2008 election, he was defeated by Conservative candidate Paul Calandra by 545 votes. He tried again In the 2011 election and was defeated again by Calandra this time by more than 20,000 votes. In 2013, Temelkovski expressed interest in the nomination for the new riding of

Markham—Stouffville Markham—Stouffville is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It encompasses a portion of Ontario previously included in the electoral districts of Markham—Unionville and Oak Ridges—Markham.; ; see also Statistics CanadaNational ...

but the party chose

Jane Philpott Jane Philpott (née Little; born November 23, 1960) is a physician, academic administrator, and former Canadian politician who represented the riding of Markham—Stouffville in the House of Commons. Philpott was first elected in the 2015 fed ...

who went on to beat Calandra in the 2015 election.

References

External links

*
Candidate information for Lui Temelkovski
at the Liberal Party of Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Temelkovski, Lui 1954 births Canadian people of Macedonian descent Eastern Orthodox Christians from Canada Living people Liberal Party of Canada MPs McMaster University alumni Members of the Macedonian Orthodox Church Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Resen Municipality Yugoslav emigrants to Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians