Preceded by William Skoreyko Role Canadian Politician Constituency Edmonton East Died February 2, 2010 | Occupation businessman, farmer Succeeded by Al Hiebert Name William Yurko | |
Preceded by Ernest Manning (Strathcona E.) Constituency Strathcona East (1969–1971)
Edmonton Gold Bar (1971–1979) Born February 11, 1926
Hairy Hill, Alberta ( 1926-02-11 ) Political party Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta | ||
William "Vasile" Yurko MLA MP (February 11, 1926 – February 2, 2010) was a Canadian politician, and member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Canadian House of Commons.
Yurko was born in 1926 in Hairy Hill, Alberta of Romanian and Ukrainian descent. He served two years in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, then graduated with distinction as a Chemical Engineer from the University of Alberta. He worked for 17 years (six of them within the Atomic Energy of Canada) before 1969, when he entered politics.
He was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta in the Strathcona East riding by-election on February 10, 1969, following the resignation of Premier Ernest Manning.
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Edmonton Gold Bar riding in 1971 and re-elected in 1975.
In 1979 he was elected to the House of Commons for the Edmonton East riding as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and he held the seat until 1984, when he ran as an Independent for the same riding, but lost to William Lesick.