Steve Paproski (23 September 1928 – 3 December 1993) was a

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 ...

politician and professional football player. He played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) from 1949 to 1954 and served as a federal Member of Parliament from 1968 to 1993.

Early life

Born in Lwów,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, he came 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 ...

, Alberta as a child. He attended the University of Arizona on a sports scholarship.

Pro football career

He was a lineman for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

from 1949 to 1954. In this role he became part of the Edmonton Eskimo alumni which would come to dominate Alberta political life in future decades. Among other Eskimoes from this era who achieved prominence in politics are Alberta premiers Peter Lougheed and Don Getty, plus lieutenant governor the honourable Norman Kwong.

Political career

In 1968, he was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

for the riding of

Edmonton Centre Edmonton Centre (french: Edmonton-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and since 2004. Geography The riding is anchored in the heart of Down ...

. A Progressive Conservative, he was re-elected in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. He was elected in 1979,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

for

Edmonton North Edmonton North was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 2004. Demographics Geography The riding consisted of the northern part of the city of Edmonton, Alberta. H ...

. From 1976 to 1978, he was the Chief Opposition Whip. During

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 ...

's brief term as Prime Minister from 1979 to 1980, he was the Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport and Minister of State for Multiculturalism. During

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

's terms as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993, he was the Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole. While in opposition, Steve served leader Robert Stanfield as deputy whip and later chief whip for the Progressive Conservative caucus. Paproski was an ethnic

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

and a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. His brothers

Kenneth Paproski Kenneth Robert Howard Paproski (January 17, 1931 – January 25, 2007) is a former provincial level politician and medical doctor from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1982. Early life P ...

and Carl Paproski also served as members 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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paproski, Steve 1928 births 1993 deaths Sportspeople from Lviv People from Lwów Voivodeship Edmonton Elks players Players of Canadian football from Alberta Ukrainian players of Canadian football Members of the 21st Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Canadian football people from Edmonton Politicians from Edmonton Ukrainian Roman Catholics Ukrainian emigrants to Canada Canadian sportsperson-politicians Canadian Roman Catholics