Laurence Decore

Laurence George Decore (born Lavrentiy Dikur; June 28, 1940 – November 6, 1999) was a Canadian lawyer and Albertan politician. He was of Ukrainian descent. He was mayor of Edmonton 1983–1988, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1989–1997, and leader of the Alberta Liberal Party 1988–1994.

Early life 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, Ottawa, and after 1957, Edmonton, where he played curling and soccer.

Decore 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 Fedoruk (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 the Edmonton cable television station QCTV, a hotel in Jasper, a shopping centre and apartment complex in Lethbridge, and assorted other commercial enterprises.

In the legislature, Decore focused his attacks in the government around fiscal responsibility and the province's rapidly rising debt. He was also critical of the government's involvement in the private sector which had, in some high-profile cases, resulted in companies defaulting on huge government loans. The Liberals rose rapidly in the polls, and Progressive Conservative Premier Don Getty resigned in 1992 rather than lead his party into another election that it might well lose.

The Progressive Conservatives' new leader, Environment Minister and former Calgary mayor Ralph Klein, had won the leadership in part by making arguments similar to Decore's. He favoured a near-immediate balancing of the provincial budget and rapid debt repayment thereafter, and declared his government "out of the business of business". In the 1993 election, Decore therefore faced a Premier with whom he agreed on many issues; he coped by arguing that the Progressive Conservatives had, as a party, no moral authority left on the issues on which Klein was campaigning. The campaign was also notable as the former mayors of Edmonton and Calgary were facing off as party leaders.

The Liberals won 32 of the province's 83 seats, the highest percentage they had won since leaving government in 1921 and the highest percentage won by any opposition party in the province's history. They returned to official opposition status for the first time since 1967, while banishing the New Democrats from the legislature.

Decore now led the second-largest opposition caucus in the province's history. However, many Liberal MLAs and party members were unhappy to find themselves in the opposition after expecting to win power for the first time in more than 70 years. The disappointing results led to calls within the party for Decore to step down. Decore resigned his leadership in 1994, and did not seek re-election as MLA in the 1997 election.

Personal life, death, and legacy His father had been a prominent member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and Laurence attended St. John's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Edmonton.

Decore was a two-time cancer survivor, having survived colon cancer in 1990 and liver cancer two years later, but a third incidence killed him in 1999. In a tribute, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien called Decore "an extraordinarily gifted leader" and "a man of vision and perseverance", while Klein said that he "brought great passion and a keen intellect to all he did in public life".

Laurence Decore Lookout, a viewing point overlooking the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, is named in Decore's honour, as are the Edmonton Decore electoral district and the Laurence Decore Award for Student Leadership, a provincially endowed scholarship.