‘Great honour:’ Jennifer Campeau resigns as Saskatoon MLA

After six years of representing people in Saskatchewan, Jennifer Campeau is moving on.

The Saskatoon-Fairview MLA announced Wednesday she has accepted a position with mining company Rio Tinto in Prince Rupert B.C.

“This is hard for me,” Campeau said as she fought back tears during a farewell news conference on June 21.

“It was a great learning experience and a great honour.”

Campeau was the first elected in 2011. Under Premier Brad Wall, she became the first Indigenous Saskatchewan MLA named to a cabinet position.

She told media she’s stepping down for personal and professional reasons.

“This has been a difficult decision for me, but I also couldn’t pass up a senior role with a huge multinational company like Rio Tinto,” she said.

Wall has six months to announce a byelection, but didn’t hint at an exact time frame while talking to media Wednesday.

“At some suitable point I’ll have something further to announce about that, but today is about thanking the great work Jennifer did for us,” he said.

Campeau, a six- year Sask. Party MLA, hasn’t ruled out a run in British Columbia politics in the future.

“I’m not going to say it hasn’t crossed my mind,” she said. “Maybe in a couple decades. I’d like to get my career started first.”

Campeau was elected twice in very close races in Saskatoon-Fairview, winning by 247 votes in 2011, and by 184 in 2016.

“Fairview is a difficult seat for our party to win, and Jennifer won it twice, which speaks to the job she has done and the respect her constituents have for her,” Wall said.

Campeau served as Minister of Central Services from 2014 to 2016.