Former premier’s legacy honoured
REGINA — A former Saskatchewan premier will be permanently honoured for his contributions to the province and Canada through a new memorial near the Legislative Building.
A memorial to honour Allan Blakeney, who served as Saskatchewan’s 10th premier from 1971 to 1982, was officially dedicated on Wednesday.
Blakeney died at the age of 85 following a short battle with cancer in 2011.
“What we’re looking to do here is commemorate the 60 years of public service that Mr. Blakeney gave to the province, starting as a civil servant in the ’50s, then as a minister where he helped usher in medicare, and then of course as premier of Saskatchewan,” said Jason Quilliam, the province’s chief of protocol.
The memorial, located near the corner of Memorial Way and McCallum Avenue, includes two plaques outlining Blakeney’s academic and political accomplishments, including his Rhodes Scholarship to the Queen’s College at Oxford and his 17 years as leader of the provincial New Democrats.
“HE WAS EXTREMELY PRINCIPLED, EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT AND SENSIBLY PROGRESSIVE.”
ROY ROMANOW
While Blakeney viewed his work on implementing Canada’s publicly funded health-care system as his biggest contribution in public life, former premier Roy Romanow said it’s difficult to pin down just one aspect of Blakeney’s legacy.
“He was extremely principled, extremely intelligent and sensibly progressive. He knew how to implement progressive programs and do that in an appropriate way,” Romanow said.
Romanow served as Blakeney’s deputy premier for 11 years. He called his friend and colleague a “principled pragmatist,” who was a leader among the other premiers.
“The legacy will be, partly, his contribution to national unity,” Romanow said. “There is no greater role than talking about the country and making it stronger, and I think the record, forever, will reveal his importance in that regard.”
Romanow said Blakeney was key in gathering the premiers together for a latenight session in an Ottawa hotel that led to the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982, “when it looked like the whole thing was going to collapse.”