Bill Bonko
{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Bill Bonko Sr.
| smallimage = Bill Bonko.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| residence = Edmonton
| office = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
| constituency = Edmonton-Decore
| term_start = November 22, 2004
| term_end = March 3, 2008
| predecessor = New district
| successor = Janice Sarich
| office1 = Trustee on Edmonton Public School Board (Ward A)
| term_start1 = October 16, 1995
| term_end1 = October 18, 2004
| predecessor1 = New ward
| successor1 = Bev Esslinger
| party = Liberal
| spouse = Michele
| children = Two
| occupation = Circulation manager
}}
Bill Bonko is a Canadian politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was first elected in the 2004 election as a Liberal in Edmonton Decore, but was defeated in his 2008 re-election bid by Progressive Conservative Janice Sarich.
Early life
Bill Bonko graduated from Queen Elizabeth High School.[https://web.archive.org/web/20061005102336/http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_bio&rnumber=29] Bonko's legislature biography He worked for fifteen years as the circulation manager for the Edmonton Journal.
Political career
Bonko first sought political office in the 1995 municipal election, when he was elected to the Board of Edmonton Public Schools as trustee for Ward A.{{cite web|url=http://www.edmontonelection.ca/images/stories/pdf/results/1995.pdf |title=Edmonton 1995 municipal election results |accessdate=2008-03-23 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was re-elected in the 1998 and 2001 elections.{{cite web|url=http://www.edmontonelection.ca/images/stories/pdf/results/1998.pdf |title=Edmonton 1998 municipal election results |accessdate=2008-03-23 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://www.edmontonelection.ca/images/stories/pdf/results/2001.pdf |title=Edmonton 2001 municipal election results |accessdate=2008-03-23 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He did not seek re-election at the conclusion of his third term. Instead, he ran for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in Edmonton Decore in the 2004 provincial election as a Liberal.{{cite web |url=http://elections.ab.ca/Public |title=2004 Alberta provincial election results, Edmonton Decore |accessdate=2008-03-23}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} He won 44.63% of the vote and defeated his opponents, who included former MLA Walter Szwender who was running for the Progressive Conservatives and Gary Masyk, an incumbent MLA whose riding had been abolished and who had crossed the floor to become the Alberta Alliance's first MLA after being elected as PC.{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/alberta-lawmaker-defects-from-klein-s-conservatives-1.474164 |title=Alberta lawmaker defects from Klein's Conservatives |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=June 30, 2004 |accessdate=2015-06-02}} He did not sponsor any bills during his time in the legislature,{{cite web |url=http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=bills_statusarchive |title=Bills moved in Alberta legislature, 1989-present |accessdate=2008-03-23| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080417064208/http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=bills_statusarchive| archivedate= 17 April 2008 | url-status= live}} and was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Janice Sarich in the 2008 election.{{cite web|url=http://results.elections.ab.ca/29.htm |title=2008 Alberta provincial election results, Edmonton Decore |accessdate=2008-03-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302025015/http://results.elections.ab.ca/29.htm |archivedate=March 2, 2009 }}
Personal life
Bonko is married to Michele; the pair has two children, including Bill Jr. who ran as a Liberal candidate in Athabasca-Redwater in the 2008 provincial election.{{cite news |url=http://www.ctvedmonton.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080303/EDM_bonko_030308/20080303/?hub=EdmontonHome |title=Both Bonkos go down after Tory knockout |publisher=CTV.ca |accessdate=2008-03-23}}
Election results
| class="wikitable"
| colspan="3"|2008 Election Results (Edmonton Decore) | colspan="2"|Turnout 35.1% |
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" align="left" valign="top" | Affiliation
| valign="top" |Candidate | valign="top" |Votes | valign="top" align="right"|% {{Canadian party colour|AB|PC|row}} |align="right"|4,602 |align="right"|45.93% {{CANelec|AB|Liberal|Bill Bonko|3,879|38.72%}} {{Canadian party colour|AB|NDP|row}} |NDP |Sidney Sadik |align="right"|1,295 |align="right"|12.93% {{CANelec|AB|Green|Trey Capenhurst|243|2.43%}} |
| colspan="3"|2004 Election Results (Edmonton Decore)
| colspan="2"|Turnout 43.4% |
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" align="left" valign="top" | Affiliation
| valign="top" |Candidate | valign="top" |Votes | valign="top" align="right"|% {{CANelec|AB|Liberal|Bill Bonko|4,418|44.63%}} {{Canadian party colour|AB|PC|row}} |align="right"|3,033 |align="right"|30.63% {{Canadian party colour|AB|NDP|row}} |NDP |Shirley Barg |align="right"|1,524 |align="right"|15.40% {{CANelec|AB|Alliance|Gary Masyk|830|8.39%}} {{CANelec|AB|Social Credit|Geoffrey Chevrier|94|0.95%}} |
| colspan="5" align=centre|2001 Edmonton municipal election results (Public School Trustee, Ward A) |
| colspan="3" valign="top" |Candidate
| valign="top" |Votes | valign="top" align="right"|% |
| colspan="3"|Bill Bonko
| align="right"|6,769 | align="right"|62.1% |
| colspan="3"|Bev Esslinger
| align="right"|4,136 | align="right"|37.9% |
| colspan="5" align=centre|1998 Edmonton municipal election results (Public School Trustee, Ward A) |
| colspan="3" valign="top" |Candidate
| valign="top" |Votes | valign="top" align="right"|% |
| colspan="3"|Bill Bonko
| align="right"|4,867 | align="right"|48.3% |
| colspan="3"|Bev Esslinger
| align="right"|3,325 | align="right"|33.0% |
| colspan="3"|Lynette Young
| align="right"|1,883 | align="right"|18.7% |
| colspan="5" align=centre|1995 Edmonton municipal election results (Public School Trustee, Ward A) |
| colspan="3" valign="top" |Candidate
| valign="top" |Votes | valign="top" align="right"|% |
| colspan="3"|Bill Bonko
| align="right"|4,480 | align="right"|33.5% |
| colspan="3"|Maureen Ford
| align="right"|2,441 | align="right"|18.2% |
| colspan="3"|Cathy Kutryk
| align="right"|2,175 | align="right"|16.3% |
| colspan="3"|Joe Hak
| align="right"|1,933 | align="right"|14.5% |
| colspan="3"|Larry Phillips
| align="right"|800 | align="right"|6.0% |
| colspan="3"|Perry Dane
| align="right"|565 | align="right"|4.2% |
| colspan="3"|Victor Varvis
| align="right"|559 | align="right"|4.2% |
| colspan="3"|Dan McAra
| align="right"|428 | align="right"|3.2% |