Ludwig, Albert
Ludwig, Albert William (original name: Бзовий, Михайло; Bzovyj, Myxajlo; or Bzowy [Bzawy], Michael Anthony), b 14 November 1919 in Melfort, Saskatchewan, d 16 February 2019 in Calgary, Alberta. Canadian lawyer and politician of Ukrainian descent. Born into a family of immigrants from Galicia (his father Ivan [John] arrived in Canada in 1897), Michael spent his early childhood in Owen, Alberta. By 1923 his family moved to Rycroft, Alberta, where they were members of the Saint John’s Ukrainian Catholic church. Michael grew up on his parents’ farm near Rycroft as one of six children and he completed his elementary and secondary education in Rycroft during the Depression. In 1939–40 he attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the Canadian army in 1940 and, from 1941, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). He was stationed in Great Britain, where he was a bomb aimer in the RCAF 426 Squadron. His plane was shot down over France on 13 June 1944 and two of his fellow airmen were killed. He was able to parachute down, evaded capture but later, on 17 July 1944, was taken prisoner by the Germans and was held in the prisoner of war camp. With the advance of the Soviet Army into Poland, he was one of the 80,000 POWs who were forced to march across Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany in the winter of January and February 1945. His group of POWs marched over 965 km in the freezing winter conditions to a POW camp near Berlin. They were eventually released on 21 April 1945, with the arrival of the Soviet Army. Michael was demobilized from the RCAF in November 1945.
After returning to Canada, he studies law at the University of Alberta. In 1947, while attending university, he changed his name to Albert William Ludwig. After obtaining his law degree, he opened a legal practice in Calgary and practiced law there for 29 years with a number of law partners. In 1964 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel by the attorney general of Alberta.
In 1952 Ludwig joined the Social Credit party that was popular among the Ukrainian community, especially in the rural areas of northern Alberta. He was elected as a Social Credit Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1959 for the electoral district of Calgary North East (1959–63). As a MLA for Calgary, he was the first Ukrainian member elected in southern Alberta and he was the only lawyer among 61 Social Credit members. Ludwig was appointed to the provincial government ‘watchdog’ committee in 1960 to review draft legislation. He was re-elected in Calgary East (1963–71) and was appointed head of a legislative committee on schoolteachers’ bargaining rights.
During the May 1967 elections, seven MLA members of Ukrainian descent were elected to the Alberta Legislature representing the Social Credit party. One among them, Ludwig was best known for his initiatives that led to the introduction of the first government ombudsman in Canada. He served as minister of public works in 1969–71. As minister, he was a member of a cabinet committee that travelled to northern Alberta to assess various local requests from the provincial government. He was involved in several building and renovation projects of post-secondary institutions, including the science and medical facilities at the University of Alberta, Mount Royal Junior College, Alberta Vocational School and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Although the Social Credit party was defeated in the 1971 election, he held his seat in Calgary-Mountain View until his defeat in the 1975 provincial election.
After leaving provincial politics, he returned to his legal practice. He attempted to return to politics as a Liberal candidate in the 1977 provincial election and again as the federal Liberal candidate in Calgary East in 1979, but was unsuccessful. Ludwig was appointed as a judge for the Provincial Court of Alberta in 1979 and served until his retirement in 1989. In 1998 he ran unsuccessfully as a city councillor in the Calgary municipal election.
On 13 June 1994 which was the 50th anniversary of the shooting down of his RCAF aircraft in France during the Second World War, Ludwig made a parachute jump that was reported in the local press. He co-authored the Canadian Creed, a patriotic manifesto, in 2006. In retirement he became a prominent advocate for senior citizen rights.
Myron Momryk
[This article was written in 2025.]