Moe apologizes for Thatcher’s attendance at throne speech, removes Stewart from post

Premier Scott Moe gave an “unequivocal” apology Monday afternoon in the Legislature for Colin Thatcher’s attendance at the throne speech.

Thatcher — a former Progressive Conservative MLA and cabinet minister who served 22 years in prison for the 1983 murder of his ex-wife, JoAnn Wilson — was invited to Wednesday’s speech by Saskatchewan Party MLA Lyle Stewart.

That caused quite a furor, with many criticizing the decision to invite a man convicted of murdering his wife into the Legislative Assembly for a speech that featured crimefighting initiatives.

On Monday, Stewart was removed from his post as legislative secretary on provincial economic autonomy. He’ll remain as MLA for Lumsden-Morse.

Shortly after making that announcement in a brief statement, Moe rose in the Legislature and offered an apology.

“The message that was conveyed with last week’s attendance by Mr. Thatcher during the speech from the throne is not a message that is acceptable to Saskatchewan people, nor is it indicative of the direction of a government that has a duty to provide leadership on such an important issue,” Moe said in part.

“This individual was invited by a government MLA and while I do not review nor do I approve MLA invitation lists, as premier and as leader of the government caucus, ultimately I am responsible. To all of those who attended the speech from the throne, to all members of this Assembly and to all of the people of Saskatchewan, I offer my unequivocal apology.”

Later, speaking to reporters, Moe said things happened quickly last week, but he went home on the weekend, spoke with family, friends and colleagues, and thought about what happened.

“I did have some days to reflect on, more broadly, what the message was with the attendance of Mr. Thatcher at the speech from the throne,” said Moe.

“As I had some time to reflect and discuss on that, I certainly realize that this province does require a much larger leadership role from our government, and I’m here speaking on behalf of that government today when it comes to how we can drive those (domestic violence) statistics down and support those that have experienced domestic abuse.”

Moe then talked about the funding and expansion of programs his government is already doing, but admitted more needs to be done.

On Thursday, Moe told reporters that inviting Thatcher wasn’t a decision he would have made, but he stopped short of apologizing.

“Me? What would I apologize for?” he asked a reporter at the time. “This is an individual that invited someone. It wasn’t a government that invited someone. I think we need to draw that distinction.”

On Thursday, Stewart did not apologize but admitted he made an “error in judgment” in inviting Thatcher to the speech from the throne. Stewart said he did so because Thatcher 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,” wrote Stewart, a former minister of agriculture, minister responsible for Saskatchewan Crop Insurance and minister for enterprise and innovation in Saskatchewan Party governments.

In removing Stewart from his position as legislative secretary but not kicking him out of caucus, Moe said the decision lies with him and he characterized it as one mistake from an MLA.

On Wednesday, Christine Tell — the minister of corrections, policing and public safety — defended Thatcher’s right to be in attendance at the throne speech.

“Colin Thatcher is a citizen who has gone through the justice system, gone through the courts (and) done his time in incarceration,” Tell told reporters. “He has now paid that debt to society that society has deemed for him to do and he’s living his life as a citizen of our province.”

On Monday, Moe said he was apologizing for Stewart, Tell and himself as well as the government, and talked about the service and advocacy work Tell has done.

Moe said in the future, he doesn’t believe they will be vetting invitations for events like the throne speech.

“I’m out here on what was a serious error of judgment with respect to this incident. But elected members, I think, really do need some latitude on some of the work that they do and that would include who they select to come to an event like the speech from the throne or ultimately the budget, despite the challenges that this particular invite has put our government in,” said Moe.

The premier believes the incident will ensure his government will step forward and make sure it’s leading when it comes to addressing domestic and interpersonal violence.

NDP Leader Carla Beck was critical of the government’s response last week, and on Monday remained critical of how long it took to get an apology.

“I think the apology itself was well-crafted and certainly was something we were calling for. There’s still a sense of frustration that it took national and international headlines and all of the pressure that was put upon the premier before we saw that apology,” said Beck.

She said words are nice but survivors are looking for action. The NDP is calling on the provincial government to provide operational funding for second stage housing for people fleeing domestic violence.

“This is one way the premier can demonstrate he understands it’s important and put his money where his mouth is,” said Beck.