NEW LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR
Could aid with reconciliation
Former Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow admits he’s a bit biased in evaluating the appointment of Saskatoon lawyer Tom Molloy to be the province’s next lieutenant-governor.
Romanow, who served as premier from 1991 to 2001, said Molloy has long been a good friend of his; they attended the University of Saskatchewan together.
“He took a different political route than I did, but he ended up being a tremendous contributor to Canada’s growth and evolution with his work with respect to Indigenous Peoples in Canada, best exemplified by his book (The World is Our Witness) and two big treaty areas or land entitlements and historic claims, one involving British Columbia,” Romanow said of Molloy, who was named the province’s next lieutenant-governor by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to replace Vaughn Solomon Schofield, who has served since 2012.
Molloy is an Officer of the Order of Canada and recipient of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. He was also the lead federal negotiator in the discussions that led to Nunavut’s creation in 1993, completed the Nisga’a treaty in British Columbia in 2000 and was involved in claims negotiations in other provinces.
“Coming from Saskatchewan, with some of these same challenges facing us today, he comes superbly equipped to be the lieutenant-governor,” Romanow said.
Molloy will be a good adviser for the province’s incoming premier, he added.
Three lieutenant-governors served while Romanow was premier. One was Sylvia Fedoruk. Romanow faced headwinds when his government tried to get its first budget passed after he became premier in 1991. He remembers it so tough he thought he couldn’t continue on as premier, he said.
He explained his “predicament” to Fedoruk and it was her wise counsel that gave him the resolve to continue, Romanow said.
If Molloy’s advice is sought appropriately, as it has been by premiers in the past, he will play a very important role in shaping the “long overdue important relationship between the Crown and the First Nations and Aboriginal peoples of Canada and this province,” Romanow added.
Roland Crowe, a band councillor at Piapot First Nation and former chief of what is now the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, said Molloy is a “good choice” for the job, in part because he understands the history and background of First Nations land claims in the province.
He said Molloy brings knowledge of how the land claim process has unfolded and what is expected from federal and provincial levels of government.
“He would have a fairly good grasp of our lifestyle prior to many of the things that are troubling us today,” Crowe said.