by Alec Salloum
Regina Leader-Post
Gary Grewal, the Saskatchewan Party MLA representing Regina Northeast, announced late Friday he would not be seeking election in 2024.
In a post made on X — formerly known as Twitter — the Sask. Party shared that Grewal would be stepping away to spend more time with his family.
“It has been an honour to serve the people of Regina Northeast for these past four years as a member of Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government,” said Grewal in the post.
Grewal is now one of five Sask. Party MLAs to announce this month that they are not seeking election. He was first elected in 2020 and was the first Indo-Canadian elected to the Saskatchewan Assembly.
In total 11 current Sask. Party MLAs have announced they will not seek reelection. Greg Lawrence, who now serves as an independent, announced while still a member of caucus that he will not run in the upcoming election.
Recently, the MLA’s involvement with two Regina motels has garnered headlines as the Saskatchewan NDP continues to raise issues around rates paid by the Ministry of Social Services
In the past, Grewal has said decisions about room rates and bookings at the motel he owns are made at the discretion of the “live-in managers” hired to operate his business for him.
“In order to run the business, in a business manner, that is the choice that managers have made,” he said, speaking in December of 2023.
“It’s up to them. That is why they are hired, they make the policies.”
Grewal is linked to the Thriftlodge Hotel, which received $163,704 from the Ministry of Social Services in 2022-23 and is the owner of the Sunrise Motel which has been paid $382,642 by the ministry since 2018.
Grewal has also been the alleged victim of an extortion attempt according to both the Regina Police Service and the MLA himself.
Police say the incident is alleged to have taken place in January 2023 when a man asked the Saskatchewan Party MLA to support him in a “local political election process.”
“When the victim refused, the suspect threatened to cause harm to his personal and professional life,” police said in a release.
The Saskatchewan Party said it will nominate a new candidate to run in the constituency for the 2024 provincial election on March 15. The deadline for those seeking nomination, according to the party, is Feb. 29.
So far the party has “38 candidates nominated for the upcoming election, of which 31 are incumbent MLAs seeking re-election and seven are new candidates.”
The upcoming general election will be held on or before Oct. 28.
alsalloum@postmedia.com
