William Skoreyko

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

William Skoreyko (December 8, 1922 – September 28, 1987) was a Canadian businessman and politician from Alberta. He served as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Edmonton East from 1958 to 1979.

Skoreyko was born in Edmonton to Ukrainian immigrant parents, Michael and Helen Skoreyko. He joined the Canadian Army in 1940 during World War II. After the war, he studied in Edmonton and Senlac, Saskatchewan, earning a degree in business management from Senlac. He worked as a partner at Belvedere Husky Service Garage and later became president of Belvedere Insurance Services Limited.

In 1958, Skoreyko was elected to the House of Commons, defeating incumbent Ambrose Holowach. He served as a backbencher in Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s government and did not rise high in the party hierarchy. He faced several notable opponents over the years, including Liberal John Decore and former Alberta Attorney-General Lucien Maynard in 1962, and Maynard again with Ivor Dent (NDP) in 1963. In 1965, his opponent was a young Preston Manning, who would later lead the Reform Party.

Skoreyko retired undefeated in 1979 after seven terms, spanning the 24th through the 30th Canadian Parliaments. He died in Edmonton on September 28, 1987, at age 64.