Regina Pats trade scoring leader and captain Tanner Howe
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The Saskatchewan Party MLA at the centre of a controversy over inflated payments from the Ministry of Social Services to two motels he either owns or has a stake in has announced he won’t be seeking re-election in the 2024 provincial election.
Regina Northeast MLA Gary Grewal made the announcement Friday in a statement posted to the Sask. Party’s Twitter feed. Grewal said he was looking forward to spending 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,” Grewal said in the statement.
In November, the Sunrise Motel — which Grewal owns — was called out for charging higher rates for Ministry of Social Services clients.
Grewal claimed he wasn’t aware that those clients were facing higher rates, but he argued that motels that accept “high-risk” clients tend to have more damage done to rooms — which justified higher damage deposits.
A little more than one week ago, it came out that Grewal is an investor in another Regina motel which was charging higher rates for Social Services clients. The Sask. NDP again called for an ethics probe. Grewal has yet to comment on this second property.
Grewal is the 12th Sask. Party MLA to announce their retirement from politics.
On Feb. 6, four veteran cabinet ministers — Finance Minister and Deputy Premier Donna Harpauer, Government Relations Minister Don McMorris, Crown Investments Corporation Minister Dustin Duncan and Advanced Education Minister Gord Wyant — announced they weren’t going to run in the 2024 election.
In September, Moose Jaw Wakamow MLA Greg Lawrence announced he wasn’t going to seek re-election as he recovered from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. Lawrence subsequently resigned from the Sask. Party caucus amid a police investigation; he later was charged with assault.
In August, four of the party’s MLAs revealed they wouldn’t be running again. That group included Don Morgan (who at the time was the minister of labour relations and workplace safety and the minister responsible for Crown corporations) and then-Environment Minister Dana Skoropad.
And in May, two other Saskatchewan Party MLAs – Greg Ottenbreit and Ken Francis – announced they wouldn’t be running in 2024.
The statement about Grewal’s decision noted the Sask. Party will hold a nomination meeting in the Regina Northeast riding on March 15. The party said it has 38 candidates nominated for the upcoming election, comprising 31 incumbents and seven new candidates.