Yurko, William

Yurko, William [Юрко, Василь; Jurko, Vasyl'], b 11 February 1926 in Hairy Hill, Alberta, Canada, d 28 January 2010 in Edmonton. Politician and nuclear engineer of Ukrainian-Romanian origin. Yurko was educated at the University of Alberta and the University of Michigan. He was elected in 1969 to the legislature of Alberta as the Progressive Conservative member for Strathcona East, and re-elected in 1971 and 1975. While serving as minister of the environment (1971–5) and minister of housing and public works (1975–8) he played a large role in the establishment of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village as a provincial historic site. He was elected to the federal House of Commons in 1979 as member for Edmonton East and was re-elected in 1980. Yurko is the author of Parliament and Patriation: The Triumph of Unilateralism (1984).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]