Political action profile: Therese Tascuk
The ancestry of many Albertans features the story of a parent or grandparent fleeing old Europe in search of human rights and democracy.
However, not all breed the kind of success and respect for the political process that has been instilled in CUPE members like Smoky Lake Town Councillor and Local 4575 President Therese Taschuk.
“I would say that everyone should run for public office at least once in their life,” says Taschuk. “There’s just so many things involved in the running of things, even locally. Politics are very interesting – and extremely important.”
After being forced to flee Hungary in the uprising against Soviet rule in 1956, Taschuk’s father made his way to a small town in Switzerland, where he married, and little Therese was born. However, as Taschuk describes, Switzerland was not exactly friendly to a man foreign-born.
“Switzerland was known as the land of the free, but it was very tough for you if you’re not born there – not a citizen,” she says. “You couldn’t do anything without permission from the authorities – so they saved and saved, and finally moved us to Canada.”
The family settled in Nova Scotia first, coming to Alberta later in the 1960s, where they farmed near Bellis, a hamlet in Smoky Lake County.
Therese grew up there, met her husband Terry, and worked in Bellis until the closure of the school in 1997 at the behest of the Alberta government.
By that time, she was already a seasoned Canadian Union of Public Employees veteran, serving as Local President, the Division Executive and Political Action Committee and numerous other committees. In 2001, she ran for the local Health Authority and lost narrowly – in 2007, she ran for town council in Smoky Lake – and won.
“Being a CUPE member, you’re always aware of the political nature of your work,” she says. “The more you are involved in CUPE and political action, the better equipped you are to look after your members.”
Taschuk credits former National Representative Ron Pilling for pushing her into the CUPE activist fold.
“In my first year we were coming up on bargaining, and it was the very first meeting I ever went to,” she says. “I was a rookie and had so many questions… they were beginning to pick a bargaining committee and eventually I asked so many questions that Ron just said: ‘Why don’t you join the committee?’ I then went to my first convention, and became Vice-President soon after. I was hooked.”
While being involved municipally in Smoky Lake is very nearly a full-time job, Taschuk wants her fellow CUPE members thinking about seeking public office to “go for it.” She works on the local and regional library boards, the regional water committee, with the Pumpkin Growers Committee, the Smoky Lake Fire Department, and with the Family & Community Support Services Committee, but started out with very little detailed knowledge about how the town worked.
“I first ran just because I thought taxes were too high,” she laughs. “Now, I know why, and I’ve learned where those tax dollars go. I’ve learned about the importance of social services and community networking, all of the unpaid volunteer hours and organizations that make the life of a community great and the benefits of that.”
The biggest challenges facing Smoky Lake and the neighbouring counties are sustainability, privatization of public services, and the downloading of provincial responsibility onto the municipalities, she adds.
“We’re in the midst of regional water planning that is so important to our area,” she says. “Nobody wants another Walkerton, so we need to get these public regional systems in place. We’re doing good work, but I always have the fear in the back of my mind that we will do all of this work and then the provincial Government will privatize.
“With more CUPE members elected, that will be less likely.”
As for the father who fled Hungary, he’s a pretty proud papa.
“He just says: ‘Good for you! Do it, and do it well,” she smiles.
Taschuk is one of six declared candidates so far from the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Alberta seeking public office in the upcoming election on October 18th.
Voters in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, and some parts of Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut will all head to the polls this fall to elect their municipal leaders.
Other CUPE members seeking election are:
Anne Marie Watson – Red Deer Catholic School Board – http://AnneMarieWatson.ca
Dave Loken – Edmonton City Council – http://www.ElectLoken.com
Dianne Wyntjes – Red Deer City Council – http://www.DianneForRedDeer.ca
Joyce van der Lee – Lethbridge City Council
Tina Jardine – Edmonton Public School Board, Ward I – http://www.TinaJardine.ca
Don’t forget to vote on October 18! To take a sign, financially support, attend a forum, or volunteer for these candidates, or to find out more information about running for office in your city, town, or county in Alberta, please contact Legislative Liaison Jeff Sloychuk at jsloychuk@cupe.ca.