Gary Masyk

Who is Gary Masyk?

Gary Masyk is a businessman and politician in Alberta, Canada.

Born in High Prairie, Masyk owned Garco Oilfield Service and Masyk Lumber Company before entering politics. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a Progressive Conservative to represent Edmonton-Norwood in 2001.

Masyk once attracted controversy when he advocated sending criminals to work in salt mines. Masyk is probably best known for his highly controversial comments that ran in an Edmonton Journal column on February 27, 2003; elaborating on his proposal to send repeat offenders to Russian salt mines, Masyk seemingly praised the hardline intimidation tactics employed in Soviet Union gulags during the Stalinist era. Appearing to disparage human rights, Masyk was forced by Premier Ralph Klein to issue an apology on the following day.

On June 29, 2004, Masyk left the Tory caucus after Premier Klein's health care policies became an issue and, according to Masyk, a factor in the outcome of the 2004 federal election. Masyk blamed Klein for the federal Conservative Party's defeat, and joined the upstart Alberta Alliance. He became that party's first Member of the Legislative Assembly. However, it was more likely that Masyk's defection was an act of defiance to a party that chastized him and removed his seat from the Edmonton electoral map, making it difficult for Masyk to gain a new Conservative nomination.