Gene Zwozdesky
Eugene Zwozdesky, MLA (July 24, 1948 – January 6, 2019) was a Canadian politician in the province of Alberta. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 to 2015, and was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2015.[1]
Gene Zwozdesky | |
|---|---|
 Zwozdesky at a charity function in June 2013 | |
| 12th Speaker of the Alberta Legislative Assembly | |
| In office May 23, 2012 – June 11, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Ken Kowalski |
| Succeeded by | Bob Wanner |
| MLA for Edmonton-Mill Creek | |
| In office 1997–2015 | |
| Preceded by | New District |
| Succeeded by | Denise Woollard |
| MLA for Edmonton-Avonmore | |
| In office 1993–1997 | |
| Preceded by | Marie Laing |
| Succeeded by | District Abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 24, 1948 Nipawin, Saskatchewan |
| Died | January 6, 2019 (aged 70) Edmonton, Alberta |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal (1993–1998) |
| Spouse | Christine Zwozdesky |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Edmonton, Alberta |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Early life
Zwozdesky was born on July 24, 1948, in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, to Ukrainian-Canadian parents Alec and Anna Zwozdesky[2][3] and came to Alberta at the age of two. He lived in Grand Centre, Hinton and Sangudo before moving to Edmonton, where he lived since 1963. After attending Victoria Composite High School, he obtained bachelor's degrees in arts and education from the University of Alberta.[4] Before becoming involved in politics, Zwozdesky worked as a teacher, administrator, professional musician, and businessman.
Political career
Zwozdesky was first elected in the 1993 Alberta general election as the Alberta Liberal Party's candidate, defeating incumbent Marie Laing of the Alberta New Democratic Party. He was re-elected to the new riding of Edmonton-Mill Creek in the 1997 Alberta general election.
In July 1998, he left the Liberal Party caucus and sat as an Independent member after a dispute over fiscal policy. He joined the governing Progressive Conservatives a month later. In the 2001 Alberta general election, he won by a generous margin over the Liberal challenger Bharat Agnihotri.
Zwozdesky was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Community Development; after being re-elected in the 2004 Alberta general election, he was appointed Minister of Education.
On December 15, 2006, Zwozdesky was replaced in Premier Ed Stelmach's cabinet by Ron Liepert. He again joined the Alberta Cabinet on June 27, 2007, as Associate Minister for Capital Planning. In 2008, he was the Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Deputy Government House Leader. He was also co-chair of the Advisory Council on Alberta-Ukraine Relations, co-chair of the Cabinet Policy Committee on Public Safety and Services, and a member of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.[5]
Zwozdesky has won numerous awards from cultural and arts organizations, as well as the 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal.[5]
Zwozdesky was re-elected in the 2012 provincial election as an incumbent PC candidate. He was defeated in the 2015 Alberta general election by Alberta NDP candidate Denise Woollard.[6]
Personal life and death
Zwozdesky joined the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers in 1963, and danced in the troupe for six years before becoming the musical director, composing and conducting Shumka's music for twenty-five years;[7] he also served in the same role for the Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Company. He was involved in various other cultural organizations, was the executive director of the Alberta Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Alberta Ukrainian Canadian Centennial Commission, and has served on various voluntary boards.[5][4] He was married to Christine, with two children.[2]
Electoral record
| 1993 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Avonmore | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Gene Zwozdesky | 6,728 | 52.67% | 24.59% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Ken Alyluia | 3,433 | 26.88% | -3.33% | ||||
| New Democratic | Marie Laing | 2,190 | 17.15% | -24.56% | ||||
| Social Credit | Leslie M. Jackson | 285 | 2.23% | – | ||||
| Greens | Dennis Clark | 97 | 0.76% | – | ||||
| Natural Law | Lucia Hoff | 40 | 0.31% | – | ||||
| Total | 12,773 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled, and declined | 28 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 22,055 | 58.04% | – | |||||
| Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | 7.15% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Avonmore Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1997 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Mill Creek | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Gene Zwozdesky | 6,757 | 51.91% | – | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Sukhi Randhawa | 3,679 | 28.27% | – | ||||
| New Democratic | Stephen Crocker | 1,804 | 13.86% | – | ||||
| Social Credit | Christie Forget | 776 | 5.96% | – | ||||
| Total | 13,016 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 18 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 23,216 | 56.14% | – | |||||
| Liberal pickup new district. | ||||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Mill Creek Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. "1997 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 26, 2020. | ||||||||
| 2001 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Mill Creek | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gene Zwozdesky | 8,085 | 55.67% | 27.40% | ||||
| Liberal | Bharat Agnihotri | 4,229 | 29.12% | -22.80% | ||||
| New Democratic | Edwin Villania | 1,893 | 13.03% | -0.83% | ||||
| Alberta First | Kyle Harvey | 220 | 1.51% | – | ||||
| Greens | Harlan Light | 97 | 0.67% | – | ||||
| Total | 14,524 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 41 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 26,307 | 55.37% | -0.78% | |||||
| Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | 1.45% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Mill Creek Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 2004 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Mill Creek | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gene Zwozdesky | 5,070 | 42.08% | -13.59% | ||||
| Liberal | Aman Gill | 4,289 | 35.60% | 6.48% | ||||
| New Democratic | Nathan Taylor | 1,709 | 14.18% | 1.15% | ||||
| Alberta Alliance | Robert J. Alford | 523 | 4.34% | – | ||||
| Greens | Eric Stieglitz | 386 | 3.20% | 2.54% | ||||
| Independent | Cameron Johnson | 72 | 0.60% | – | ||||
| Total | 12,049 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 50 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 24,419 | 49.55% | -5.82% | |||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | -10.03% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Mill Creek Official Results 2004 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. "Edmonton-Mill Creek Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 28, 2020. | ||||||||
| 2008 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Mill Creek | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gene Zwozdesky | 6,857 | 50.78% | 8.70% | ||||
| Liberal | Aman Gill | 4,058 | 30.05% | -5.55% | ||||
| New Democratic | Stephen Anderson | 1,822 | 13.49% | -0.69% | ||||
| Green | Glen Argan | 726 | 5.38% | – | ||||
| Communist | Naomi Rankin | 41 | 0.30% | – | ||||
| Total | 13,504 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 90 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 29,773 | 45.66% | -3.89% | |||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 7.12% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. May 28, 2020. pp. 320–323. | ||||||||
| 2012 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Mill Creek | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gene Zwozdesky | 6,623 | 55.06% | 4.28% | ||||
| Wildrose | Adam Corsaut | 2,193 | 18.23% | – | ||||
| Liberal | Mike Butler | 1,640 | 13.63% | -16.42% | ||||
| New Democratic | Evelinne Teichgraber | 1,336 | 11.11% | -2.39% | ||||
| Alberta Party | Judy Wilson | 194 | 1.61% | – | ||||
| Communist | Naomi Rankin | 43 | 0.36% | 0.05% | ||||
| Total | 12,029 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 117 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 25,250 | 48.10% | 2.44% | |||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 8.05% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Elections Alberta 2012 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. "40 - Edmonton-Mill Creek". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved 4 June 2020. | ||||||||
| 2015 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Mill Creek | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Denise Woollard | 9,025 | 55.94% | 44.83% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gene Zwozdesky | 3,848 | 23.85% | -31.21% | ||||
| Liberal | Harpreet Gill | 1,896 | 11.75% | -1.88% | ||||
| Wildrose | Saqib Raja | 1,365 | 8.46% | -9.77% | ||||
| Total | 16,134 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 59 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 32,521 | 49.79% | 1.69% | |||||
| New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | -2.37% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Elections Alberta 2015 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. "40 - Edmonton-Mill Creek". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved 4 June 2020. | ||||||||
References
- "Premier Redford welcomes Gene Zwozdesky as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly". Government of Alberta. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- The Canadian Parliamentary Guide - Gale Canada, Pierre G. Normandin - Google Books. P. G. Normandin. 2008-10-16. ISBN 9781896413433. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- "MLA still gets kick from time as Shumka dancer". The Edmonton Journal. March 18, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
- Nick Lees (2018-07-22). "Nick Lees: No signs of slowing down as Gene Zwozdesky turns 70". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- "Legislative Assembly of Alberta". Assembly.ab.ca. 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- "Alberta Election 2015: Former Speaker of the House Gene Zwozdesky loses Edmonton-Mill Creek seat to NDP". Globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- "Dancer turned politician reflects Shumka success | CTV News Edmonton". Edmonton.ctv.ca. 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- "Gene Zwozdesky, former Speaker of the Alberta Legislature, has died | CBC News".
- Alex Antoneshyn (2019-01-06). "Edmonton MLA, legislative speaker Gene Zwozdesky dies". CTV Edmonton. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
External links
- Alberta Legislative Assembly biography Gene Zwozdesky
- Edmonton Mill Creek political history, CBC News
