Rupen Pandya appointed to CEO role at SaskPower

Rupen Pandya will be SaskPower’s new president and CEO, the Crown corporation announced Friday.

Raised in Regina, Pandya previously worked for the provincial government. He held assistant deputy minister roles in several ministries before becoming CEO of SaskBuilds, a job he held for five years.

In 2017, Pandya was appointed Deputy Minister of Finance, a role that included oversight over government revenue and expenses.

Pandya will take the helm of SaskPower on July 1. He’ll take over from Troy King, who has served as interim CEO for the past six months.

Deputy minister shuffle

Pandya’s replacement at the Ministry of Finance is Max Hendricks, who previously served as the Deputy Minister of Health. And some other deputy ministers also are changing roles.

Tracey Smith moves to Health from Social Services, Kimberly Kratzig shifts to Social Services from Advanced Education, and Denise Macza — previously the Associate Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Health — goes to Advanced Education.

Kathryn Pollack (chairperson of the Public Service Commission; formerly Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement), Laurier Donais (Acting Deputy Minister of Government Relations and Deputy Minister of First Nations, Métis and Northern Affairs), Linda Zarzeczny (Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General; previously Assistant Deputy Attorney General), and Ashley Metz (Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; formerly Associate Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs) also got new titles.

So did Raynelle Wilson, who’s the new Deputy Minister to the Premier and cabinet secretary. She replaces Cam Swan, who has held the position since 2018.

There was a lot of talk about Wilson over the winter when she was temporarily appointed as a vice-president to the board of the Saskatchewan Health Authority despite not having any experience in health-care administration.

The NDP felt the appointment was the government trying to make the SHA’s board political.