William Skoreyko

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Skoreyko (born: December 8, 1922, Edmonton, Alberta - died: September 28, 1987) was a businessman, service station owner, and a long serving Canadian federal politician from 1958 to 1979.

Skoreyko first ran for election to the Canadian House of Commons in the Edmonton East district in the 1958 federal election. He would defeat incumbent Member of Parliament Ambrose Holowach to win his first term in office. He would run for his second term in office in the 1962 federal election, this time he defeated high profile candidates such as former MP John Decore and former provincial Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly Lucien Maynard in a hotly contested election.

The minority government elected in 1962 fell just a year after taking office forcing the 1963 federal election. Skoreyko ran for his third term in office, once again defeating Maynard and future Edmonton mayor Ivor Dent. He would be re-elected to his fourth term in office in the 1965 federal election. Skoreyko would defeat another high profile challenger in Preston Manning who was the son of Alberta premier Ernest Manning and future leader of the Reform Party of Canada.

Skoreyko would almost be defeated in his bid for a fifth term in office. He won the 1968 federal election by a plurality of 3,000 votes over Liberal candidate Pat Shewchuk. His margin of victory would increase greatly as he was re-elected in his bid for a sixth term in office in the 1972 federal election. Skoreyko's final run for office he defeated a large field of 6 other candidates by a wide margin in the 1974 federal election. He retired in 1979 undefeated after serving 7 consecutive terms.