REGINA - Reverberations from the shock appearance of Colin Thatcher at the Speech from the Throne were still felt at the legislature Thursday.
Thatcher, the former Saskatchewan cabinet minister convicted in 1984 of the murder of his ex-wife JoAnn Wilson, had been in the assembly Wednesday as a guest of Lumsden-Morse MLA Lyle Stewart. In speaking to reporters afterwards, Stewart was quoted as describing Thatcher as a “fine individual”.
However, the invite created an uproar on a day that was supposed to focus on the government’s Throne Speech messaging. Minister of Corrections and Policing Christine Tell was forced to defend Thatcher’s appearance, telling the media scrum Thatcher had “a right to be here.”
On Thursday morning before Question Period, Stewart issued a statement in which he took sole responsibility for inviting Thatcher.
“Each MLA is given the opportunity to invite a number of guests to the Throne Speech. It was my decision alone to invite Colin Thatcher, who is a constituent and long-time friend. In retrospect, this was an error in judgment as his presence was a distraction from a very positive and forward-looking Throne Speech, which included a number of new initiatives to keep Saskatchewan families safe in their communities.”
Inside during Question Period, opposition MLAs hammered the government for allowing the invite to Thatcher.
“Yesterday, we saw Colin Thatcher attend the Speech from the Throne,” said Opposition Leader Carla Beck. “Invited by the architect of the Premier’s separation tour and White Paper. That senior member of government who invited Thatcher said he was ‘a fine individual.’ Does the premier understand the signals that this sends in a province with the highest-in-the-nation interpersonal violence rates? A simple question and this is to the Premier: will he condemn that decision and will he apologize?”
But that question was quickly ruled out of order by Speaker Randy Weekes. “That whole issue of someone being invited or not is out of order,” said Weekes.
The NDP kept going on the issue. Saskatoon University MLA Jennifer Bowes then stood and recounted in graphic detail the Supreme Court account of the manner in which JoAnn Wilson was beaten and shot in her garage in 1983.
Bowes then asked what message the Premier thought it sent to invite Thatcher, but before she could finish, Weekes ruled her question out of order as well.
When Bowes rephrased the question by pointing to Saskatchewan having among the “highest rates of domestic violence in the entire country,” Minister of Justice and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre responded by acknowledging the rates are “a tragedy” and added “we must do everything we can” to bring those down. That answer didn’t satisfy Bowes.
“This Throne speech talks a lot about getting tough on crime - certain types of crime I guess,” Bowes said.
“Yet yesterday, a convicted wife murderer sat in this Chamber. This is disgusting. Again, what message does it send to the women of this province when the honour of a Throne Speech is extended to a convicted wife killer?”
But that question was also ruled out of order, as was Bowes’ next question where she asked if the Minister agreed with the quote from Stewart that Thatcher was a “fine individual." Weekes ruled that question out of order as well.
After Weekes asked members to “move on to another topic or phrase it differently,” Regina University MLA Aleana Young finally obliged by turning to roasting the government’s jobs performance - but not before remarking “that’s a remarking display of cowardice by members on that side.”
In speaking to reporters after Question Period, Bowes said she was “disappointed to have the questions ruled out of order.”
“It’s an important issue, and it’s an issue that’s being brought forward across our province and across our country since yesterday’s Throne Speech,” said Bowes.
She also wanted to see some recognition from the government that what transpired was inappropriate and should never have happened.
“We’ve got yesterday minister (Christine) Tell saying that ‘it doesn’t matter’. That’s the message that’s being sent to women across our province, that it doesn’t matter that a convicted wife murderer is invited as an honoured guest to this Assembly by the government.”
Beck did not back down from her party’s use of the words “convicted wife murderer” repeatedly in the Assembly.
“We saw the government’s not want to talk about this today, to procedurally have it shut down,” said Beck.
“The reality is whether the government wants to hear it or not, this province consistently has domestic violence, interpersonal violence rates at double the average of every other province in this country for a decade, and has the second highest domestic homicide rate in the country. If the words make you uncomfortable, I don’t think you have the understanding of what it is to experience interpersonal violence, which too many people in this province have intimate knowledge of.”
As for who she thought should be held responsible for allowing Thatcher to attend, Beck pointed to the Premier.
“This is a question of leadership. This is a story that has made national news right across the country, an absolutely shocking lack of judgment… you know, Throne Speech day is a by-invitation-only event. Those invitations are vetted through caucus. If the Premier didn’t know, he reasonably ought to have known. The fact that this did not send up a red flag to anyone over there is shocking to me. And yes, I think the Premier should also apologize and show some contrition here and show that he understands just a little bit the implications of what it meant to have Colin Thatcher here.”
In speaking to reporters, Premier Scott Moe did not offer an apology, but acknowledged the invitation of Thatcher was not one he would have made himself.
Regarding invitations to the Speech from the Throne, Moe noted those are sent out by individual MLAs and ministers.
“I vet none of those, nor do I intend to in the future nor have I in the past… It was an individual MLA who made that invitation as you know. I would have made a different decision with respect to that particular invitation.”
As for who actually vets the guest list for the Speech from the Throne, Moe couldn’t give an answer to reporters.
“It is an event hosted by the legislative assembly and the Speaker. Most certainly the Premier doesn’t weigh in on who’s going to be attending.” The only invitees the Premier vets, Moe told reporters, was his own list.
As for whether there will be changes in the future, Moe said he thought MLAs “will be giving careful consideration to who they invite not only to the Throne Speech but whatever event may be,” said Moe. He also acknowledged the whole Thatcher episode was a distraction from the messages of the Throne Speech, including the investments in community safety announced that day.
“Is it unfortunate that those investments are being overshadowed by an individual that invited another individual to the Speech from the Throne? Yes.”
