David Tkachuk (born February 18, 1945) is 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 ...

teacher, executive and politician. Tkachuk was a member of the Senate of Canada, representing Saskatchewan from 1993 to 2020.

Life and career

David Tkachuk was born on February 18, 1945, to George and Pauline (née Berezowski) in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. He had a younger sister named Darlene who died in 2004. He is a second generation Canadian-Ukrainian as maternal grandparents were from the region of

Sokal Sokal ( uk, Сокаль, Romanization of Ukrainian, romanized: ''Sokal'') is a city located on the Bug River in Chervonohrad Raion, Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Sokal urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukrain ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The origin of his paternal grandparents is unknown. Tkachuk graduated from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1965 and earned a teaching certificate in 1966. Tkachuk joined the

Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party The Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan is a conservative political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Prior to 1942, it was known as the Conservative Party of Saskatchewan. Members are commonly known as Tories. History ...

in 1974. He helped build the then-moribund organization into an electoral force that was able to form government in

under

Grant Devine Donald Grant Devine, SOM (born July 5, 1944) was the 11th premier of Saskatchewan from May 8, 1982 to November 1, 1991. Early life Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, he received a BSc in Agriculture degree specializing in Agricultural Economics i ...

. Tkachuk served in the Premier's Office as Devine's principal secretary. Tkachuk also worked for the

British Columbia Social Credit Party The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing provincial political party of British Columbia, Canada, for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For fou ...

for one year. Also a long time worker for the federal Progressive Conservative Party, Tkachuk was appointed to the Senate in June 1993 on the recommendation of Brian Mulroney weeks before his retirement as

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

. He served in the Senate as a Progressive Conservative and now sits as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. In March 2005, Conservative leader Stephen Harper appointed Tkachuk to the position of Senate Chair for the party's 2006 election campaign. Tkachuk previously served as co-chair of the Progressive Conservative's 1997 election campaign. Tkachuk has been chairman of the

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...

Society since 1992, and was instrumental in arranging funding to keep the former prime minister's papers at the University of Saskatchewan's John G. Diefenbaker Centre. He also serves as president of Blackstrap Hospitality Corporation, and is on the board of Calian Technologies Ltd. He is also active in the

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 ...

community. Following the retirement of

Raynell Andreychuk Anita Raynell Andreychuk (born August 14, 1944) is a retired Senator, lawyer, and former judge and diplomat. Career A native of Saskatoon, Andreychuk graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a BA in 1966 and a law degree in 1967, ...

on August 14, 2019, he was the longest-serving member of the Senate, until his own retirement on February 18, 2020. He was the last remaining senate appointee of the Mulroney ministry.

Controversy

Tkachuk was involved in the

Mike Duffy Michael Dennis Duffy (born May 27, 1946) is a former Canadian senator and former Canadian television journalist. Prior to his appointment to the upper house in 2008, he was the Ottawa editor for CTV News Channel. In turning 75 on May 27, 202 ...

scandal, serving as one of a three-member senate committee whose report sought to whitewash Duffy's fallacious claims for living expenses. Senator David Tkachuk while speaking to the pro-pipeline crowd at Parliament Hill on February 20, 2019, urged the group to "roll over every Liberal left in the country". He continued, "When they are gone, these bills are gone." Given that 10 people were killed in the terrorist attack in April 2018 in North York after being run over by a van, Member of Parliament for Willowdale

Ali Ehsassi Ali Cyrus Ehsassi ( fa, علی احساسی‎; born April 24, 1970) is a Canadian politician currently serving as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Willowdale, Ontario riding of Willowdale in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 fe ...

released a statement which condemned the Senator for inciting violence against Canadians and demanded that Senator Tkachuk be forced to resign and called for his removal from the Conservative Caucus. CPC leader

Andrew Scheer Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the lead ...

, who also attended the event, was criticized for failing to take action against Tkachuk, who has refused to apologize and claimed that he was speaking figuratively."Senator won't apologize for telling protesters to 'roll over every Liberal
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tkachuk, David 1945 births Living people Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Canadian senators from Saskatchewan Conservative Party of Canada senators Politicians from Saskatoon Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators 21st-century Canadian politicians