Name Andrew Shandro Role Politician | Died 1942, Edmonton, Canada | |
Andrew shandro downhill
Andrew S. Shandro (April 3, 1886 at Russ Banilla, Bukowina – January 13, 1942 at Edmonton, Alberta), was a Canadian politician. He was the first Ukrainian Canadian to be elected to the Alberta Legislature. Shandro was the son of Stefan Shandro and his wife, Anastasia (née Ostashek). He was a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. His grandfather was a judge and an uncle was a general in the Austro-Hungarian army. He emigrated to Canada in 1899 with his parents from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and settled northeast of Andrew, Alberta near the North Saskatchewan River. He became a prominent farmer and was postmaster of Shandro, Alberta, a rural community that bore his family's name. In 1905 he married Rose Hawrelak, daughter of Nicoli Hawrelak of Bukowina; they had six children. He was educated at Edmonton Business College and became a federal homestead inspector in 1907.
Shandro ran for the Alberta legislature as a Liberal candidate in the riding of Whitford in the general election of 1913. He won, but the election was declared void by the courts. He was re-elected in the resulting by-election on March 15, 1915, and was acclaimed in 1917 by act of the Legislature which allowed for all members of the Assembly serving in the armed forces to be automatically returned to their seats in the Legislature. He served as a lieutenant in the Canadian Army during World War I.
In the 1921 election Shandro was technically returned by acclamation for Whitford as the nomination papers of the UFA candidate were rejected. The election was appealed, the court declared the election void and a by-election was scheduled for July 10, 1922; Shandro was defeated. He ran again in the 1926 and 1935 elections, without success.