Longtime Saskatchewan Party MLA, cabinet minister and former deputy premier Ken Krawetz has died at age 75.
Premier Scott Moe offered his condolences to Krawetz’s family and announced the news on social media on Thursday.
“This one hurts a lot,” Moe wrote on Facebook.
“In any room Ken was in, whether as a teacher, school board trustee, opposition or government caucus member, cabinet minister or at the kitchen table talking to a constituent, Ken was always the guy who brought the logic, integrity, compassion and common sense to arrive at the right decision.”
Krawetz, a teacher, was first elected to the Saskatchewan legislature in 1995 as a Liberal.
In 1997, he joined several others to form the Sask. Party. He remained the leader of the opposition party while serving as interim leader of the Sask. Party until Elwin Hermanson was elected to the legislature in the 1999 election.
“Ken is an icon, pillar of our party and our government who has provided remarkable service to Saskatchewan in ways I think people will never fully understand,” Jeremy Harrison, the minister of Crown investments, said at a Thursday news conference.
“[He] committed his life to Saskatchewan right up until this week. It’s very sad.”
When Brad Wall became the leader of the Sask. Party in 2004, he named Krawetz deputy leader.
“There are not the words adequate to the task of sharing what a good and decent man we have lost,” Wall wrote on Facebook Thursday.
“He was a mentor and a counsellor to me; as Proverbs describes — ‘a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’”
Krawetz’s political career with the Sask. Party included stints as finance minister and education minister.
“Few can match the respect that Ken commanded in a room, and his booming voice that echoed throughout the legislative chamber,” current Education Minister Everett Hindley, wrote on Facebook.
Honouring his Ukrainian heritage, Krawetz was also the legislative secretary on Saskatchewan and Ukraine relations.
In 2009, then-Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko, presented Krawetz with the Order of Prince Yarosav the Wise, the highest honour a non-citizen of Ukraine can receive. He was recognized for his efforts in passing the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Act through the Saskatchewan legislature.
In April 2014, Krawetz announced that he would not seek a new term in the 2016 election. He left cabinet in 2015.
Moe described Krawetz as someone who loved Saskatchewan and was committed to the party up until the very end, but who loved his family and the Maple Leafs even more.
Moe said flags at the legislature will be lowered to half-mast in honour of Krawetz.
