Nick William Dushenski (September 4, 1920 – February 13, 2009) was a provincial politician from

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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He served as a member 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 ...

from 1952 to 1959 sitting as an MLA with the opposition Co-operative Commonwealth Federation caucus.

Personal life and career

Dushenski was born in Whitford, Alberta, the youngest of nine children. At the age of 21, he began his teaching career in a

one-room school One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

house in Beaverdam, Alberta and would teach throughout northern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and Alberta until settling in

Willingdon, Alberta Willingdon is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within the County of Two Hills No. 21. It is located approximately northeast of Edmonton, Alberta's capital city. History Willingdon originally incorporated as a village on August 31, 1928. It ...

in 1946 where he would teach until 1979, as well as run a farm with his wife and their 8 children.

Political career

Dushenski ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the

1948 Alberta general election The 1948 Alberta general election was held on August 17, 1948, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Ernest C. Manning led the Social Credit to a fourth term in government, increasing its share of the popular vote further above ...

as a Co-operative Commonwealth candidate in the electoral district of Willingdon. He was defeated in a closely contested two-way race by incumbent

William Tomyn William Tomyn (October 4, 1905 – October 5, 1972) was a politician and teacher from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1952 and again from 1959 to 1971 as a member of the Social Credit Party. Early ...

. Tomyn and Dushenski faced each other for the second time in the 1952 Alberta general election. Dushenski finished first place on the first vote count ahead of Tomyn by 44 votes. On the second vote preferences Dushenski surged to pick up the district with a respectable majority. Dushenski became one of two CCF MLAs in the Alberta legislature, alongside party leader Elmer Roper. Dushenski ran for a second term in the

1955 Alberta general election The 1955 Alberta general election was held on June 29, 1955, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Despite losing almost 10% of the popular vote (compared to its 1952 proportion of the vote) and 30% of its seats in the legislat ...

. He won another closely contested three-way election defeating future MLA

Nicholas Melnyk Nicholas A. Melnyk (May 22, 1912 – November 10, 1973) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1959 to 1971 sitting with the Social Credit caucus in government. Politi ...

on the second vote count to hold his seat. The 1955 election saw CCF leader Elmer Roper lose his seat, although the CCF picked up a seat allowing it to continue with a two-seat caucus. As the more experienced of the two, Dushenski became the CCF's

house leader {{Politics of Canada In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...

and was de facto leader of the party until Floyd Albin Johnson became party leader in 1957. As Johnson was not an MLA, Dushenski continued as the party's parliamentary leader until the next election. Dushenski retired from public office at dissolution of the assembly in 1959 and resumed his teaching career.

Late life

Dushenski returned to the Alberta Legislature in 2006 with

Raymond Reierson Raymond Reierson (October 7, 1919 – January 30, 2020) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1952 to 1971 as a member of the Social Credit caucus in government. Reierson held numerous portf ...

and Arthur Dixon as the most senior members at the 100th Anniversary celebration of the Alberta Legislature. He died three years later on February 13, 2009.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dushenski, Nick 1920 births 2009 deaths Alberta Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs 20th-century Canadian politicians People from Lamont County Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Canadian socialists of Ukrainian descent Canadian socialists