Hindley wraps up debut legislative session
It was a session of firsts for Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley as he wrapped up his debut sitting in the Legislature.
The spring sitting of the Saskatchewan Legislature wrapped on May 31, with the province passing 60 pieces of legislation under Premier Scott Moe’s first session as Premier.
For Hindley, the session marked his debut legislative session since winning the Swift Current Constituency byelection on March 1.
“We were into it fairly quickly. The Premier, and all of our Caucus, made us new MLAS feel very welcome and part of the team and gave us some duties early on,” Hindley said following the conclusion of the session.
“Just having the opportunity to sit in the chamber and participate in the debate was truly an honour.”
And while Hindley had worked for the past 18 years with Brad Wall, sitting in the legislature brought a series of new experiences.
“That (working for Brad Wall) brings a certain level of experience and comfort to the position in a way. But what I found was interesting just was how much of it seemed new being on the other side of it now.”
Hindley had the opportunity to deliver a series of member statements and participated in debates of private members bills.
He also quickly added to his responsibilities in Regina.
“A lot to learn. I was appointed to the Crown and Central Agencies Committee as one of the government members there. That’s responsible for scrutinizing some of the legislation and bills that go through. And that I hadn’t experienced before.”
“Just getting to see first hand and close up the processes is quite interesting.”
Then on May 18 he was appointed as the Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Trade and Export Development.
“That’s really exciting. Saskatchewan’s overall exports have grown by about 50 per cent in the past decade. It’s a huge file for our government. It always has been. Saskatchewan has always been an export based province.”
He is looking forward to attending events along with Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison, who has been serving as Minister of Trade and Export Development since February of this year.
Hindley previously had the opportunity to accompany former Premier Wall on a series of international trade missions over the past decade, including Dublin, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, and a mission to the Philippines.
With the Legislature in recess until the fall, Hindley will be busy around the City for the summer months.
“The Premier’s asked us to go back to our ridings to make sure that we’re engaged with the people in our communities over the next several months here before the fall session resumes at the end of October.”
He added that Premier Moe will begin the process of putting more of his own stamp on the leadership of the province.
“I think you’ve seen a little bit. Brad did a fantastic job both as the MLA here and as the leader of the party. He was our first Premier for the Saskatchewan Party. His style of leadership influenced the style of government, and some of the priorities for the party and for the government. What you’ve seen I think in the last little while is a bit of a shift. Premier Moe obviously campaigned on some things during his leadership campaign that he followed through on, in term of restoring some of the funding back to education and reversing the PST expansion on a few items.”
“I think we’ll see more of it in the months ahead,” Hindley said. “The Premier and his cabinet that he would have picked shortly after the leadership, would not have had a lot of time to work on a province budget and to really set much of a stage there.”
“I think what we’ve seen is that’s started to change a bit. And I think you’ll see more of it this fall.”
“I think that’s where you’ll see things really start to take shape. In the fall session is when the provincial government lays out its Throne Speech, and that’s sort of the vision for the government. And I think you’ll start to see some more change that way.”