Scott Jon Thorkelson (2 March 1958 – 19 May 2007) was a member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

from 1988 to 1993. His background was in research, consulting, and fundraising. Born in

Gimli, Manitoba Gimli is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in the Rural Municipality of Gimli on the west side of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. It is located 80 km north of the provincial capital Winnipeg. The community's first European settle ...

, Thorkelson became active with the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party as a youth auxiliary leader and as an assistant to

John Allen Fraser John Allen Fraser (December 15, 1931 – April 7, 2024) was a Canadian politician who was speaker of the House of Commons from 1986 to 1994. He also served as Canada's Minister of the Environment, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Ambass ...

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans The minister of fisheries () is the minister of the Crown responsible for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). The minister is a member of the King's Privy Council for Canada and the Canadian Cabinet ...

in the mid-1980s in the

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

government. Tribute statement in Parliament by

Laurie Hawn Laurie Daniel Hawn PC CD (born May 11, 1947) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force, businessman, and former federal politician from Edmonton, Alberta. He was the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre from 2006 ...

, MP for

Edmonton Centre Edmonton Centre () is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and since 2004. Geography The riding is anchored in the heart of Downtown Edmonton. It also ...

. Thorkelson was elected as a PC MP in the 1988 federal election at the Edmonton—Strathcona

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

, which was open after its previous MP,

David Kilgour David William Kilgour (February 18, 1941 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian human rights activist, author, lawyer, and politician. He also served as a senior fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Kilgour earned a degree in ...

, ran in the new constituency of

Edmonton Southeast Edmonton Southeast is a federal electoral district in Alberta that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2025. A riding of the same name previously existed from 1988 to 2004. Geography Edmonton Southeast is located in ...

. He served in the

34th Canadian Parliament The 34th Canadian Parliament was in session from December 12, 1988, until September 8, 1993. The membership was set by the 1988 federal election on November 21, 1988, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it w ...

but lost to Hugh Hanrahan of the Reform Party as part of the

electoral wipeout An electoral wipeout occurs when a major party wins no seats in an election - "wiped out" means no one left, from that party, in the body that has had an election. It is the opposite of a landslide victory; the two frequently go hand in hand. A u ...

of the Progressive Conservatives at the 1993 federal election. Thorkelson died unexpectedly in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

at his parents' residence due to a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at age 49.

References

External links

* 1958 births 2007 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs People from Gimli, Manitoba Politicians from Edmonton Canadian people of Icelandic descent 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Alberta-MP-stub