“It was pretty obvious I wasn’t planning on being in the Saskatchewan Party caucus,” said Weekes.
Alec Salloum
Regina Leader-Post
After cutting up his Saskatchewan Party membership card back in May, Randy Weekes has officially submitted his resignation to the provincial governing party.
Weekes, speaker of the legislative assembly, said Monday in a public statement about his resignation: “I half expected the premier to remove me from the Caucus. That does not appear to be on his agenda so I decided I would make it official today.”
Speaking Tuesday morning, Weekes said “it was pretty obvious I wasn’t planning on being in the Saskatchewan Party caucus” after he cut the membership card in half and posted it on social media.
The letter of resignation was submitted on Monday at 8:30 a.m., but by Tuesday morning Weekes was still waiting for confirmation that he had officially left caucus.
An emailed statement from Government Caucus Chair David Buckingham, sent close to noon on Tuesday, said “Mr. Weekes’ decision to leave the Saskatchewan Party Caucus is not surprising given his recent comments. We wish him the best in his decision to serve the remainder of his term as an independent member.”
Having been part of the Saskatchewan Party for 27 years, Weekes said leaving in this way was “not a happy moment for me by any stretch.”
“I didn’t leave the party, the party left me,” said Weekes, who referred to the election of Premier Scott Moe in 2018 as a “turning point” for the party.
Pointing to government policy during the COVID-19 pandemic and conduct by MLAs during negotiations with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, Weekes said there has been an increase in “bullying” inside and outside of the party.
“After I became speaker, there’s quite a list of intimidation, both physical intimidation and bullying tactics to try to make me rule in a way that then House Leader Jeremy Harrison and the government wanted me to do,” said Weekes.
In his final session-closing speech as speaker, Weekes alleged that Harrison brought a gun to the legislature on one occasion and sought permission to carry a hand gun in the legislative assembly. Weekes also read into the record texts sent by Harrison in response to his rulings.
Last week, efforts made by the NDP to investigate allegations made by Weekes were shut down during a meeting of the House Services Committee.
Harrison has since maintained that he only brought a firearm into the legislature once.
On Monday, while speaking at an unrelated event in Regina, Harrison refused to answer further questions about the incident and surrounding allegations.
Weekes wanted to emphasize “this is not a pro-gun or anti-gun or anti- or pro-hunting debate.”
He said the issue rests with Harrison’s conduct, “which has done a disservice to every law-abiding and responsible gun owner in Canada. As elected members, we should be subject to a higher standard of conduct.”
alsalloum@postmedia.com
