New Melfort MLA pays tribute to his predecessor and old pal

Saskatchewan politics is filled with random events not making any headlines. In this weekly feature, political reporter D.C. Fraser shares some of those stories.

New Melfort MLA honours his predecessor

Kevin Phillips was the MLA for Melfort from 2011 until this November, when he suddenly and tragically passed away. That prompted a byelection, which resulted in the Saskatchewan Party’s Todd Goudy winning by a wide margin. Goudy was a long-time friend of Phillips and readily admits he is the second choice for constituents.

To honour Phillips, Goudy is wearing a green tie that belonged to his predecessor. The tie was given to Goudy by Phillips’s wife April.

“It’s easy to wear a friend’s tie, but in Kevin’s case, it’s a lot harder to fill his shoes,” said Goudy.

Ruling finds minister not guilty of intentionally deceiving Assembly

Newly elected Speaker Mark Docherty made his first ruling last week, finding Highways Minister David Marit did not intentionally mislead the Assembly in an answer he made related to the Global Transportation

Hub (GTH) and Regina bypass project.

In December, Marit was asked about lawsuits related to those projects and stated in his answer there were no lawsuits against the province related to them. Although several proceedings related to the matter were settled out of court, there are still a handful of lawsuits on the books. His answer prompted the NDP to raise a question of privilege with the Speaker. Before Docherty made his ruling, Marit apologized for his error. That apology was one reason Docherty cited for not levying any punishment against the highways minister.

‘Grass stations’ could catch on

The legalization of cannabis has oft been one of those issues of interest for reporters speaking to MLAs after question period, especially last week when the province announced details on what marijuana sales will look like in Saskatchewan.

Rather than constantly referring to the stores where cannabis will be sold as “licensed cannabis retailers,” I decided to jokingly use the term “grass stations” in questions to Attorney General Don Morgan. A fan of humour himself, Morgan embraced the joke and referred to the shops as “grass stations” three times in his answer. Personally, I’m hoping this catches on — although “pot shops” is also kind of catchy.

Heckles on the floor

QP is kind of a bizarre event to watch, because it involves a crowd of much-respected adults debating important issues while also yelling insults at each other. Sure it adds a bit of theatre to political debate, but it’s often seen as a poor example of behaviour to classes that come from schools around the province on almost a daily basis.

For instance, last week NDP MLA Warren McCall was asking questions about the framework agreement between the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority and the province.

That prompted some shouts from Dan D’Autremont, a government MLA for Cannington who was a minister several years ago but has not been in cabinet after serving as Speaker from 2011-16.

In response to D’Autremont’s heckling, McCall quipped, “perhaps the member from Cannington can get back into cabinet and then answer the question from the floor.”