William Boytchuk (April 27, 1922 – January 22, 1998) was a longtime city councillor in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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. He was born near

Sniatyn Sniatyn (, ; ; , older ; ) is a city located in Kolomyia Raion of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine along the Prut river, in the historic region of Pokutia. Sniatyn hosts the administration of Sniatyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas ...

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and after spending several years in Germany immigrated to Canada in 1948. Working as a pharmacist he became active in the local Ukrainian committee. Boytchuk was elected to city council in the 1969 election representing the westernmost part of the Old City of Toronto covering

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

and

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. He was considered one of the council's "Old Guard" of conservative, generally pro-development councillors but became more moderate over his time in office. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

he was also notable for his strong anti-Soviet policies. He played a central role in having a monument to the

Katyn Massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

erected in his ward. In 1990 he also led the effort to oppose a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

agreement with

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

."Debate rages, again, over Soviet twin city Toronto urged not to team up with Volgograd." Susan Reid. ''Toronto Star.'' Feb 13, 1990. pg. A.6 In the 1976 election Boytchuk lost his seat in a surprise upset to left winger David White. He thus decided to run provincially for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1977 Ontario election for the riding of

High Park—Swansea High Park—Swansea was a provincial electoral district in the west-end of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1999. It was created during the 1975 riding redistribution, ...

. He lost that race in a close contest to NDP incumbent

Ed Ziemba Edward John Ziemba (born May 2, 1932) is a former Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Ontario New Democratic Party, New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1981 who represented the downtown Toronto ...

. With the retirement of

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, the other councillor in his old seat, Boytchuk returned to council in 1978. He continued to represent his west end seat until he retired in 1994. In 1964, he served as the president of the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

until the 1968 season.

References

{{reflist Toronto city councillors 1922 births 1998 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidates in Ontario provincial elections Soccer people from Ontario Polish emigrants to Canada 20th-century pharmacists Polish pharmacists 20th-century Polish politicians 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors Canadian pharmacists