Northlands appointment raises big flags: NDP
The Saskatchewan Party government is not sure how someone who has multiple assault convictions was appointed by the province to the board of Northlands College.
Vince Natomagan was named to the northern college’s board of directors by provincial cabinet on Nov. 1. During the 2016 election, he had intended to seek a nomination for the Saskatchewan Party, but pulled out of the running prior to his nomination meeting.
Natomagan’s convictions go back to 1989, when he was found guilty of assault. He was found guilty of assault eight times between then and 2009. During that period he was also convicted of assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats, and failure to comply with a probation order.
In August 2018 he was charged again with assault and uttering threats.
Roughly two weeks after his appointment to the board was made official, he pleaded guilty to those charges, but was given a conditional discharge.
Concerns of Natomagan’s history were raised by the provincial NDP on Tuesday. Advanced Education critic Carla Beck said concerns of his appointment were “brought forth by a number of members of the community.”
“It raises some very big red flags,” Beck said, saying it sends a bad message in a province with the highest domestic violence rates in the country. “How did they let this appointment happen? Not only do we need to rectify this situation, we need to know how this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said, later adding “someone needs to be accountable” for what took place.
Orders-in-council are decided on by cabinet — meaning Advanced Education Minister Tina Beaudry-mellor and Premier Scott Moe approved the appointment.
Beaudry-mellor said Tuesday she was accountable for the decision.
“I am not sure how it was missed, to be honest with you,” she said. “(Tuesday) was the first time I had heard about criminal convictions, particularly with respect to domestic violence, and I’m mortified.” She pledged to remove Natomagan “immediately” from the posting once she verified the court documents outlining his criminal history.
The minister said members from the board or community can make suggestions regarding who should be added to the board, and in the case of Natomagan he had an appealing economic development background and represented the Pinehouse region.
“We were looking for a robust composition of the board,” she said, noting they were looking for representation across the north and that criminal record checks are not done. “He was recommended from the community, I was provided with a CV.”
She said she will now be consulting with officials to see if all board appointees at post-secondary institutions should be reviewed.
“I’m horrified. Especially in the north, where we have really high rates of domestic violence, we have really high rates of interpersonal violence. It’s the wrong message, so to say that I’m horrified would be an understatement,” she said.
In a lengthy post to social media on Tuesday, Natomagan said, “Everybody knows I screwed up last summer by being a closet alcoholic and hitting my wife on the head while blacked-out! I don’t deserve to represent anyone in any shape or form. I’m about to be laid off at the end of this month!” He also wrote he is going to counselling.