Janice Sarich is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician and current Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta

Legislative Assembly of Alberta

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...

 representing the constituency of Edmonton-Decore

Edmonton Decore

Edmonton-Decore is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 83 districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....

 as a Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta

The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

.

Early life

Janice Sarich was born April 26, 1958 in Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

. She obtained a bachelor's degree in physical education and master's of education degree from the University of Alberta

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

. She holds project management and project leadership certificates from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology is located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and provides technical training and applied education designed to meet the demands of Alberta's industries...

 (NAIT). Prior to entering public life, Sarich managed her own business consulting company for 25 years.

Her past community involvement includes being an advisory committee member to the Junior League of Edmonton and Catholic Social Services. Sarich served on Public Interest Alberta's Democracy Task Force, which examined potential areas of democratic reform in Alberta.

Political career

Sarich's first foray into electoral politics was in 2001, when she ran for a seat on the Edmonton Catholic School District's board of trustees. She defeated Ward 2 incumbent trustee Ronald Zapisocki by 602 votes to win the seat. During her first term, Sarich earned a reputation as a tight fiscal conservative, at times calling on the board to have its budget audited after reporting a deficit. In her bid for reelection in 2004, Sarich polled the most votes out of all 14 candidates in the Catholic district race and outpolled her Ward 2 opponent Jim Urlacher by a margin of almost 2 to 1. She did not seek reelection in 2007, allowing her to run for a seat in the Alberta Legislature.

In the 2008 provincial election, Sarich received 46% of the vote and defeated Liberal incumbent Bill Bonko

Bill Bonko

Bill Bonko is a Canadian politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was first elected in the 2004 election as a Liberal in Edmonton Decore, but was defeated in his 2008 re-election bid by Progressive Conservative Janice Sarich....

 by 723 votes to win the constituency of Edmonton-Decore

Edmonton Decore

Edmonton-Decore is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 83 districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....

. Following the election, Sarich was appointed by Premier Ed Stelmach

Ed Stelmach

Edward Michael "Ed" Stelmach, MLA is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and speaks fluent Ukrainian. He spent his entire pre-political adult life as a...

 to the position of Parliamentary Assistant to the Education Minister, Dave Hancock.

Election results

2008 Alberta general election results ( Edmonton-Decore Edmonton Decore Edmonton-Decore is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 83 districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....  )			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 35.1%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Janice Sarich	4,602	46%	Liberal Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...	Bill Bonko	3,879	39%	Green Green Party of Alberta The Green Party of Alberta, also known as the Alberta Greens, was a provincial political party in the province of Alberta, Canada.The Alberta Greens were formed in 1986 and received official party status on April 6, 1990...	Trey Capnerhurst	243	2%	NDP Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...	Sid Sadik	1,295	13%
Total			10,019	100%