Andrew Shandro (politician)

Andrew S. Shandro (April 3, 1886 at Russ Banilla, Bukowina, which was then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – January 13, 1942 at Edmonton, Alberta), was the first Ukrainian Canadian to be elected to the Alberta Legislature. Shandro was the son of Stefan Shandro and his wife, Nostansi (née Ostasheko). He was of Ukrainian descent and a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. His grandfather was a judge and an uncle was a general in the Austro-Hungarian army. He migrated to Canada in 1898 with his parents and settled northeast of Andrew, Alberta. He became a prominent farmer and was postmaster of a rural community that bore his family's name (Shandro, Alberta).

In 1905 Shandro married Rose Hawrelak, daughter of Nicoli Hawrelak of Bukowina. They had six children. (One of his daughters, Pearl, married William Hawrelak; William died in 1975 while serving as mayor of Edmonton.) Educated at Edmonton Business College, Shandro became a federal homestead inspector in 1907.

Shandro ran as a candidate for the Alberta Liberal Party for the riding of Whitford in 1913. Shandro won, but the election was declared void by the courts. However, Shandro was re-elected in the March 15, 1915, by-election, and was acclaimed in 1917 by act of the Legislature which allowed for all members of the Assembly serving in the war to be automatically returned to their seats in the Legislature. He served as a lieutenant in the Canadian Army during World War I.

In 1921 Shandro was returned by acclimation for Whitford, yet the courts again declared the election void and a by-election writ was issued. This time Shandro was defeated in the Whitford by-election, which took place on July 10, 1922. He unsuccessfully contested the 1926 and 1935 Alberta elections.