Ex-minister joins Alberta consulting business
Less than two weeks after resigning his seat in the Saskatchewan legislature, former finance minister and Regina Northeast MLA Kevin Doherty has joined a Calgary-based business consulting firm.
According to an email from Prairie Sky Consulting president and CEO Jeff Sterzuk, obtained by Postmedia News, Doherty will become the agency’s managing director for Saskatchewan and oversee its operations in the province.
“Kevin’s focus will be on providing strategy development, ongoing strategic counsel, issues management, business development, communications, executive coaching and other services to new and existing clients,” Sterzuk wrote in the email.
In an interview Monday morning, Sterzuk said he has known Doherty for about 30 years through their work in the financial services sector.
He said the former MLA has experience in business development and connections in the private sector.
“He’s a talented individual. He’s well-known, he’s wellrespected, he’s connected, so he should be able to help us find some clients,” said Sterzuk, adding that the deal came about because he and Doherty had been “talking a little bit as of late.”
According to its website, Prairie Sky Consulting provides a range of services to small- and medium-sized enterprises, including investment readiness, business development, marketing, stakeholder relations and exit strategies.
Doherty was elected in 2011 and first appointed to cabinet in 2012. He was named finance minister in 2015 and famously delivered the government’s unpopular 2017-18 budget that aimed to halve a $1.2 billion deficit.
The former SaskPower executive was thought to be among the front-runners to replace former Premier Brad Wall, but ultimately declined to enter the Sask. Party’s leadership race. He announced his resignation on March 2.
Sources close to Doherty told the Regina Leader-Post he was offered a position in Premier Scott Moe’s first cabinet, but declined. His resignation was not a surprise to some political watchers, who anticipated a move to the private sector.
Doherty’s departure is the latest in a series of exits by Sask. Party MLAs.
Corey Tochor is expected to stand for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election, while Warren Steinley is seeking that party’s nomination.