Shayne Saskiw (born August 13, 1981) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from sing ...

representing the electoral district of

Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 2012 to 2019. The district was created i ...

in the 2012 provincial election. Saskiw was the Justice and Solicitor General Critic and Deputy House Leader for the Wildrose Official Opposition, from 2012 to 2015. He is currently the co-founder and owner of

TappCar TappCar is a ridesharing company based in Edmonton, Alberta. The company is the third largest ride-sharing service in Canada, with operations in Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Winnipeg. History TappCar was launched with 200 drivers in Edmon ...

, a

vehicle for hire A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing private transport or shared transport for a fee, in which passengers are generally free to choose their points or approximate points of origin and destination, unlike public transport, and which the ...

company.

Background

Born in 1981 and raised in the area of Two Hills, Alberta, Saskiw completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2003 and graduated from the

University of Alberta Faculty of Law The University of Alberta Faculty of Law is the graduate school of law of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Established as an undergraduate faculty in 1912 it is the third oldest law school in Canada, and often considered th ...

in 2006 with the second highest academic standing in his class. He clerked for the

Tax Court of Canada The Tax Court of Canada (TCC; french: Cour canadienne de l'impôt), established in 1983 by the '' Tax Court of Canada Act'', is a federal superior court which deals with matters involving companies or individuals and tax issues with the Governm ...

and worked for a tax law boutique firm in Edmonton prior to joining the Vegreville office of Duncan & Craig LLP.

Legislative career

In August 2012, Saskiw and MLA

Drew Barnes Drew Barnes (born May 21, 1961) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2012, 2015 and 2019 Alberta general elections to represent the electoral district of Cypress-Medicine Hat in the 28th, 29th and 30th Alberta Legislatures, respecti ...

toured Highway 63 to

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...

, and subsequently released a report called "Getting it Done: An on-the-ground look at twinning and improving safety on Highway 63," calling on government to commit to a timeline to complete the twinning of the highway. Saskiw was one of the five remaining Wildrose MLAs who had not crossed the floor to join the governing PCs in December 2014. On March 12, 2015, he announced that while he had considered running for the leadership of the party, he was disillusioned with politics and would not be running for re-election in the

next general election This is a list of the next general elections around the world in democratic polities. The general elections listed are for the government of each jurisdiction. These elections determine the Prime Minister and makeup of the legislature in a parli ...

but would instead try to promote conservative issues outside of party politics.

Electoral history

References

1981 births Wildrose Party MLAs Living people People from Two Hills, Alberta University of Alberta alumni University of Alberta Faculty of Law alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians {{Alberta-politician-stub