The night before the final day for this session of Saskatchewan Legislature, Speaker Randy Weekes posted a picture which shows his Sask Party membership card cut in half and the comment, “Enough is enough.” Back in December, he lost the Sask Party’s constituency nomination for Kindersley Biggar. Weekes was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in 1999 and was re-elected five times.
Then, Weekes stood up as the 29th session of the Saskatchewan Legislature was about to close. Just prior, the Premier and the Leader of the Official Opposition spoke about the MLAs who aren’t running in the next election, with positive statements from both sides.
Weekes then got up and also thanked everyone for their hard work and dedication, and like the two leaders, also thanked government staff and everyone who worked in the Legislature. Then, with shaking hands, he began to talk about what he had experienced as the Speaker. He noted that the former Speaker, Mark Docherty, who went on to federal politics, told him that the current Government House Leader and MLA for Meadow Lake, Jeremy Harrison was constantly texting him while they were in session. He says he bragged that he could get the Speaker to rule in any way he wanted.
Weekes alleges those intimidating texts continued with him, and then, Weekes says, when they stopped, the Deputy House Leader, Lori Carr, took over, while Harrison texted the Clerk.
Weekes says, “His desire to get permission to carry a handgun in the Legislative Assembly is particularly disturbing. Another incident reported by a former Special Constable was when the Government House Leader flaunted the rules concerning weapons when he brought a hunting rifle into the Legislative Building.” He suggested that Harrison’s behaviour towards him was aggressive and noted that he heckled when the motion was passed to devolve all relevant parts of the Firearms Act and he twice yelled “Open carry next”.
In the Speaker’s opinion, Harrison showed signs of inappropriate behaviour from the time he was elected. He says, “Misleading statements and out and out lies. He has been called out numerous times. He expects his staff to go to his home and pick up his clothes. He has trouble keeping staff. There is a revolving door of staff coming and going, but more disturbing is his obsession with guns and his use of intimidation, both verbally and physically.”
Weekes also talked about a time when he walked out of the Chamber after getting the Deputy Speaker to take over. “As I passed the Government Lounge, Reg Downs, special advisor to the Premier, came out of the lounge and lunged at me, nearly hitting me and he stamped his feet very aggressively.” He feels it was obvious there was communication between the Deputy House Leader, a Government Staffer and Reg Downs. “This is not the first time I was threatened like this. Another MLA approached me at a function and came close to head butting me.”
At this point, 21 Sask Party MLAs of the 48 who won seats in the 2020 election aren’t running in the next one. The latest to announce they are stepping down are Hugh Nerlien from Kelvington-Wadena and Marv Friesen of Saskatoon Riversdale. Nerlien says he wants to spend more time with his family and Friesen says he is dealing with health issues.
The next election has to occur on or before October 28th.
