Laurence Decore B.A, LL.B, MLA |
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Leader of the Opposition in Alberta | |
In office June 15, 1993 – July 15, 1994 |
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Preceded by | Ray Martin |
Succeeded by | Grant Mitchell |
Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party | |
In office October 8, 1988 – July 15, 1994 |
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Preceded by | Nicholas Taylor |
Succeeded by | Bettie Hewes (interim) |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
In office March 20, 1989 – March 11, 1997 |
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Preceded by | John Younie |
Succeeded by | Bill Bonner |
31st Mayor of Edmonton | |
In office October 17, 1983 – October 17, 1988 |
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Preceded by | Cecil John Harry Purves |
Succeeded by | Terry Cavanagh |
Edmonton Alderman Ward 2 | |
In office 1974 election – 1977 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Lavrentiy Dikur June 28, 1940 Vegreville, Alberta, Canada |
Died | November 6, 1999 Edmonton, Alberta |
(aged 59)
Nationality | Canadian |
Political party | Alberta Liberal Party |
Spouse(s) | Anne Marie Fedoruk |
Children | Michael and Andrea |
Alma mater | University of Alberta |
Profession | Lawyer |
Religion | Ukrainian Orthodox |
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Laurence George Decore, CM (June 28, 1940 – November 6, 1999) was a Ukrainian-Canadian lawyer and politician from Alberta. He was mayor of Edmonton, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.
Decore was born Lavrentiy Dikur (Ukrainian: Лаврентій Дікур) in Vegreville, Alberta on June 28, 1940, the son of future Liberal Party of Canada MP and judge John Decore (Ivan Dikur); while he was a child, the family Anglicized its name to "Decore." He was educated in Vegreville, Edmonton, and Ottawa, and graduated from the University of Alberta in 1961 with B.A. in history and political economy, and in 1964 with an LL.B. He was called to the bar the year of his graduation, and eventually founded the firm Decore & Company. He married Anne Marie Decore (who later became the University of Alberta's Associate Vice President Academic), with whom he had two children, Michael and Andrea.
Decore was involved in a number of business ventures that made him a millionaire. These included an Edmonton cable television station, a hotel in Jasper, and assorted other commercial enterprises. From 1973 until 1975 he was founding chairman of the Alberta Cultural Heritage Council.
Decore first sought office in the 1971 municipal election, when he ran for alderman in Ward 2. He finished fourth of eleven candidates; among those who defeated him was Cec Purves, against whom Decore would later run for mayor twice.
He was elected as an alderman to Edmonton City Council in the 1974 election, in which he finished first of the ward's fourteen candidates. After serving a three-year term, he ran for mayor in 1977. He wound up nine thousand votes behind Purves, while finishing ahead of incumbent Terry Cavanagh, who had been appointed interim mayor by city council after the death of William Hawrelak, and four other candidates.