Political party Conservative | Name David Tkachuk Role Canadian Senator | |
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Office Canadian Senator since 1993 | ||
David Tkachuk (born February 18, 1945) is a member of the Canadian Senate.
Life and career
Tkachuk graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Arts in 1965 and earned a teaching certificate in 1966. Tkachuk joined the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party in 1974. He helped build the then-moribund organization into an electoral force that was able to form government in Saskatchewan under Grant Devine. Tkachuk served in the Premier's Office as Devine's principal secretary. Tkachuk also worked for the British Columbia Social Credit Party for one year.
Also a long time worker for the federal Progressive Conservative Party, Tkachuk was appointed to the Senate in June 1993 on the recommendation of Brian Mulroney weeks before his retirement as Prime Minister of Canada.
He served in the Senate as a Progressive Conservative and now sits as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. In March 2005, Conservative leader Stephen Harper appointed Tkachuk to the position of Senate Chair for the party's next election campaign expected in 2005. Tkachuk previously served as co-chair of the Progressive Conservative's 1997 election campaign.
Tkachuk has been chairman of the John Diefenbaker Society since 1992, and was instrumental in arranging funding to keep the former prime minister's papers at the University of Saskatchewan's John G. Diefenbaker Centre. He also serves as president of Blackstrap Hospitality Corporation, and is on the board of Calian Technologies Ltd. He is also active in the Ukrainian community.
Tkuchak was involved in the Mike Duffy scandal, serving as one of a three-member senate committee whose report sought to whitewash Duffy's fallacious claims for living expenses.