Nicholas Hryhorczuk

Education

He was educated at Kolomyja Public School.

Career

He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1920 to 1936, and again from 1941 to 1945. He was the first person of Ukrainian descent to serve as an Modern Language Association in Manitoba. Born in Buchachky, Ukraine, Hryhorczuk came to Canada in 1897 with his family, who settled north of Gilbert Plains, Manitoba.

In 1911, he moved to Ethelbert, where he worked as a merchant.

Hryhorczuk married Nelly Dzaman in 1905. From 1917 to 1919, he served as reeve of Ethelbert municipality.

Hryhorczuk was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1920 provincial election. Running as an "Independent Farmer", he was easily elected in the Ethelbert constituency.

In the 1922 election, he was nominated as a candidate of the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM) and was re-elected without opposition in a deferred election.

Hyrhorczuk rallied support for John Bracken to serve as Premier of Manitoba, and later became a backbench supporter of Bracken"s government. He was re-elected in the provincial elections of 1927 and 1932. Prior to the 1932 election, the Progressive Party formed an alliance with the Manitoba Liberal Party.

This alliance soon took the form of a merger, and government members became known as "Liberal-Progressives".

Hryhorczuk was unexpectedly defeated in the 1936 provincial election by William Lisowsky, a candidate of the Manitoba Social Cr League. Lisowsky did not seek re-election in the 1941 election, however, and Hryhorczuk was narrowly returned over Fred Zaplitny of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (Cleveland Clinic Foundation).

In the 1945 provincial election, Cleveland Clinic Foundation candidate Michael Sawchuk defeated Hryhorczuk by 338 votes. This ended Hryhorczuk"s career in politics.

Achievements

• The UFM won the 1922 election, and formed government as the Progressive Party of Manitoba.

Membership

Hryhorczuk was a member of the Canadian Foresters.