Popil first ran for public office as a Social Cr in the 1935 Alberta general election. Sturgeon was abolished in the 1940 boundary redistribution Popil ran for a second term in office in the new Redwater electoral district in the election held that year. Popil ran for his third and final term in office in the 1944 Alberta general election.
He retired from provincial politics at dissolution of the assembly in 1948.
He died in 1978.
He defeated incumbent cabinet minister John Love and four other candidates in a hotly contested race on ballot transfers to win his first term in office and pickup the Sturgeon electoral district. He won the new electoral district with a substantial first ballot majority defeating two other candidates. He marginally increased his popular vote and won a big majority to hold his seat.
He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1948 sitting with the Social Cr caucus in government.
