Laurence George Decore (born Lavrentiy Dikur; June 28, 1940 – November 6, 1999) was Canadian lawyer and politician from Alberta. He was of Ukrainian descent. He was mayor of Edmonton, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. Early life Decore was born Lavrentiy Dikur (Ukrainian: Лаврентій Дікур) in Vegreville, Alberta on June 28, 1940, the son of future Liberal Party of Canada MP and judge John Decore (Ivan Dikur). While he was a child, the family Anglicized its name to "Decore." He was educated in Vegreville, Ottawa, and after 1957, Edmonton, where he played curling and soccer. Decore graduated from the University of Alberta in 1961 with B.A. in history and political economy, and in 1964 with an LL.B. He was called to the bar the year of his graduation, and eventually founded the firm Decore & Company. He married Anne Marie Fedoruk (who later became the University of Alberta's Associate Vice President Academic), with whom he had two children, Michael and Andrea. Decore was involved in a number of business ventures that made him a millionaire. These included the Edmonton cable television station QCTV, a hotel in Jasper, a shopping centre and apartment complex in Lethbridge, and assorted other commercial enterprises. He was also a commissioned officer of the Royal Canadian Navy who taught naval accounting and supply in Montreal and was a junior officer in the Judge Advocate General's office. Before entering municipal politics he had already been involved in several community organizations and from 1973 until 1975 he was founding chairman of the Alberta Cultural Heritage Council. Political career Municipal politics Decore first sought office in the 1971 municipal election, when he ran for alderman in Ward 2. He finished fourth of eleven candidates; among those who defeated him was Cec Purves, against whom Decore would later run for mayor twice. He was elected as an alderman to Edmonton City Council in the 1974 election, in which he finished first of the ward's fourteen candidates. As an alderman he chaired the economic affairs committee, the budget committee and the development appeal board and served as a director of the hospital board, the local board of health, and the Greater Edmonton Foundation. After serving a three-year term, he ran for mayor in 1977. He wound up nine thousand votes behind Purves, while finishing ahead of incumbent Terry Cavanagh—who had been