John Kushner
John Kushner (June 22, 1923 – March 2, 1984) was a Canadian federal and provincial level politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1975 to 1979 and then served as a Member of Parliament from 1979 until his death in 1984. He sat with the Progressive Conservative caucus on both the provincial and federal level.
John Kushner | |
---|---|
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
In office March 26, 1975 – 1979 | |
Preceded by | Albert Ludwig |
Succeeded by | Stan Kushner |
Constituency | Calgary-Mountain View |
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Calgary East | |
In office May 22, 1979 – March 2, 1984 | |
Preceded by | Douglas Harkness (old district) |
Succeeded by | Alex Kindy |
Personal details | |
Born | Poland | June 22, 1923
Died | March 2, 1984 60) | (aged
Political party | Progressive Conservative (Alberta) Progressive Conservative (federal) |
Occupation | security officer, politician |
Early life
John Kushner was born in Poland on June 22, 1923. Prior to his political career he worked as a security officer.
Political career
Kushner ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature for the first time in the 1971 Alberta general election. He ran as a Progressive Conservative in the new electoral district of Calgary-McCall candidate and finished in second place out of four candidates losing to Social Credit candidate George Ho Lem.[1]
Kushner made a second attempt to run for provincial office, this time running in the electoral district of Calgary-Mountain View in the 1975 Alberta general election. He defeated long time Social Credit incumbent Albert Ludwig and three other candidates in a hotly contested race to pick up the seat for the governing Progressive Conservative party.[2]
Kushner served one term in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta before jumping to federal politics. He ran for a seat to the House of Commons of Canada in the federal electoral district of Calgary East in the 1979 Canadian federal election. He faced off against Ludwig who ran as a candidate for the federal Liberals and future Alberta MLA Barry Pashak and four other candidates. He won the district by a near landslide taking over 60% of the popular vote to pick up the new seat for the federal Progressive Conservatives.[3]
The minority government of Premier Joe Clark fell less than a year later which forced the 1980 federal election to take place. Kushner ran against Ludwig and Pashak in a virtual rerun of the 1979 race. His margin of victory dropped by almost 10% but he still won the district by a wide margin defeating the seven other candidates in the race.[4]
Kushner died late into his term on March 2, 1984.
References
- "Calgary-McCall results 1971". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
- "Calgary-Mountain View results 1975". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
- "Calgary East election results". Parliament of Canada. May 22, 1979. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
- "Calgary East results". Parliament of Canada. February 18, 1980. Retrieved December 7, 2009.