Mazankowski was born in Viking,Alberta,on July 27,1935.[1] His parents,Frank and Dora (Lonowski),were of Polish descent and had come to Canada from the United States in 1921.[2] After he completed high school,Mazankowski moved to Chicago,where he worked as a dispatcher in a trucking business. He later returned to Alberta and started his own gas station in Innisfree. Together with his brother Ray,he opened a car dealership on the outskirts of Vegreville.[2]
Mazankowski retired from politics on June 7,1993.[13] When Kim Campbell succeeded Mulroney as PC leader and prime minister two weeks later,Mazankowski was replaced as Finance Minister by Gilles Loiselle. Mazankowski did not run in the 1993 election that saw his party reduced to two seats in the House of Commons. He returned to the private sector and served on the boards of several organizations,including the University of Alberta. Mazankowski declined an offer of a Senate seat made by Mulroney in his final days as prime minister.[13]
In August 2001,Ralph Klein,the Premier of Alberta at the time,established the Premier's Advisory Council on Health,with Mazankowski as chair. He put the Council of twelve men in charge of reviewing Alberta's health care system and offering recommendations for health reform.[14] The Council released its report on January8,2002,and the Alberta government accepted all of the recommendations.[15][16] The report focused on market-consumerism with emphasis on consumer choice and market competition.[17]
Mazankowski played an important role in the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance in 2003,[18] and he was a strong supporter of the new Conservative Party of Canada.[19] Mazankowski died on October 27,2020,at the age of 85.[20][21]
Honours
In 1992,Mazankowski was one of a few prominent Canadians who were given the honorificstyle of "Right Honourable" without having held any of the offices that would entitle them to it automatically.[22]
↑ "Canadian Heritage: Titles". Table of titles to be used in Canada (as revised on June 18, 1993). Government of Canada. September 10, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
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