CONTENTS

FIRST SESSION — THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE

of the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS

(HANSARD)

N.S. Vol. 66 No. 1A Monday, November 25, 2024, 10:00

Clerk: — I wish to inform the Assembly that I have received a communication from the private secretary to His Honour the Lieutenant Governor stating that His Honour will open the first session of the thirtieth legislature at 10 a.m. today, the 25th day of November, 2024.

[At 10:01 His Honour the Lieutenant Governor entered the Chamber and took his seat upon the Throne.]

His Honour: — Pray be seated.

Hon. Jamie Martens: — I am commanded by His Honour the Lieutenant Governor to inform you that he does not see fit to declare the causes of summoning of the present legislature until later today, when the Legislative Assembly shall have elected a Speaker according to law.

[At 10:02 His Honour retired from the Chamber.]

ELECTION OF SPEAKER

Clerk: — Please be seated. Members of the Legislative Assembly, it is my duty to inform you that there is only one candidate who has declared his intention to stand for the election of Speaker — Todd Goudy, the Hon. Member of the Legislative Assembly for Melfort.

[The Hon. Todd Goudy was installed in the Speaker’s Chair.]

Speaker Goudy: — What could go wrong? So, members of the Legislative Assembly, I wish to express my grateful thanks and humble acknowledgement of the high honour the Assembly has conferred on me. While I leave the floor of this Assembly to take the Speaker’s Chair, I leave behind all political partisan biases in order that I might discharge with impartiality to all and to the best of my ability the various important duties pertaining to the high office of Speaker.

It will be my aim and duty to uphold the principles and traditions of the Assembly and secure for each member the right to express his or her opinions within the limits necessary to preserve decorum, to recognize the rights and privileges of the hon. members, the political groups, and the Assembly itself, to facilitate the transaction of the public business in an orderly manner, and above all, to seek to be fair and impartial in the decisions you entrust in me.

So that’s my impartial statement, but I’d like to share a few words from my heart too. You know, we were talking about a basketball tournament. When I was younger, and even today, if somebody says, “Hey, we’re putting on a basketball tournament this weekend. Would you be a part of it?” I’d think, oh absolutely, I’m in. “And by the way, we’d like you to be the ref.” And you know, I love the role of being an MLA [Member of the Legislative Assembly], and yet I’m kind of looking forward to being the ref for a little while to serve all of you.

I met a person who was a soundman for a very large venue, and he told me over lunch, he said, you know, if they ever recognize the soundman, it’s not a good day for me; something went wrong. And I think sometimes as the ref, you don’t want to blow the whistle when you don’t have to. You want people to be able to do their part and enjoy the game. And I love debate, you know, if you look at dialectic debate, its history and its roots, you know, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Some pretty great members in this room too, you know, trying to come to a good place through debate for the people of the province whom we serve.

I just want to let you know a little bit about how the ref will call the game. And I just want to say to the Premier and to the Leader of the Opposition, if I’m allowed to know who might be the future House leaders, you chose very well. And I would say that the two people that I will get to work with are ones who I look up to and I think very highly of.

And so for all the new members that are here to serve, and the old, I would encourage you to listen to your House Leader because, you know, I think then the game can play. And we need to follow those rules and have decorum, and I won’t have to stand up and everything will be awkward. I do awkward very well, by the way. You can hardly outshame me. I had two older brothers and all their friends, so you know, not many times I’ll be over-embarrassed. If I have to stop things, I’ll absolutely do it.

And you know, I don’t know if everybody knew, but I’ve tried to memorize everyone’s name in the place and read a little bit of your history, where you’re from. I’ve haven’t memorized your constituency names yet, and I’m supposed to know those. So I’ll be busy.

But my background had to do with faith. And there’s a golden rule that just about every faith across the world holds. And so when we’re wondering how should we act in this building, how should we act in this Chamber, how should we act in life, at home, at work, at play, wherever we are. And I think the golden rule in every faith is the same: do unto others as you’d have them do unto you. Or others would say, don’t do to someone something that you wouldn’t want done to yourself. And so the House leaders, I’m expecting that that will be the tone of this room.

I’ve, sadly, had a few teachers that asked, well can we bring our school and our kids to the Chamber?

Sorry, maybe this is a little longer than I should be. But you know, when I was preaching before, I said, if you’ve got a turkey in the oven, you can go and turn it off. But anyway, I won’t be long. I won’t be long.

So anyway, these teachers brought their students, and they were embarrassed afterwards.

So I’ll tell you a short story about my son Joel, my oldest boy. He was in grade 5. Brings home a note one day from the teacher, gives it to me. “Your son was the worst kid in class today.” I don’t know what went wrong with him, but something’s wrong. And so I told my son, I said, Joely, if you don’t bring a note home tomorrow from your teacher saying you were the best boy in class, there’s going to be some serious consequences. And wouldn’t you know it — the next day, he brought a note back from the teacher. Legitimate. “Your kid, Joel, was the best boy in class.”

So I am expecting that when the teachers bring their students into this Chamber, there is going to be no more “Wow, that was something else, and I don’t think I ever want to bring my students back to this place.” I do awkward very well, and if we are going to be out of control in this place, that won’t go well. So I would ask that the decorum and the hon. members of this institution will be grown up and adult. And when those teachers leave this place, I want to get some notes from the teachers saying, that is the best legislature in the country of Canada. And I hope that we will be able to be that group that are able to be the example of what it is to have good debate, good decorum, and the golden rule: do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.

Just in case I’ve forgotten anything, I’d better pull this out. I think I’m almost done though. Oh yeah. A number of years ago, I was watching things. And for the NDP [New Democratic Party], I want you to know never once did I call out from my seat and say anything. I was upset many days. But I kept my mouth closed, and I never chirped from my seat, as some might have said.

But I did notice that it was getting a little out of control at times, and I was kind of upset. At both sides, to a degree. And so I went to two people that are very independent. And I asked them, I said, you know, I think things are getting a little bit kind of out of control in there. And I said, any advice?

And these two individuals, who know the history of the place very well, told me, they said, “You know what, we’ve been noticing the same thing. And we would say that the government side hardly has any members that have ever served on the opposition side, and they don’t know what it’s like to be the opposition. And they don’t understand the difficulties and the frustrations of being in the opposition seats. And the opposition doesn’t have anyone, that had served in the past on the government side, currently sitting, and they don’t understand the frustrations and the difficulties of being in the government.”

And so I would say that we need to extend grace from both sides. We need to have healthy debate and do your jobs, and I’m looking forward to that. I love wit as much as the next guy, you know, to hear some comments and things at times. But let’s remember that we don’t understand what the other people go through. We don’t understand what’s going on in our homes, in our private lives. And so let’s respect one another and honour one another and be kind to one another.

I think that’s about it. I do want to make one comment concerning who might end up being the Deputy Speaker. He is a man from my past that I’ve looked up to both physically and figuratively since I was a boy, and I look forward to working together with him. I look forward to working together with all of you, and my role is to be your servant. And though I’ve spoke long now, I will try to speak as little as possible and not blow the whistle when I don’t have to. And I honour every one of you and thank you for the honour of letting me sit in this Chair.

So God bless you all. Let’s have fun. I hope this is a place that every one of us every day can look forward to coming to work and that we get the high privilege of serving the good people of this province and representing them to this place and representing this place to your communities. So thank you again for the opportunity to serve you as your Speaker.

I recognize the Premier.

[10:15]

Hon. Scott Moe: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And it brings me a great honour to be the first to congratulate you on your acclamation as Speaker of this Assembly, and I appreciate very much the words that you have brought to the floor of this Assembly. This is an honourable position. And it’s one that I know you will conduct yourself in a very honourable way, as you have each and every day that you have been elected as a member on behalf of the constituents of Melfort in this Assembly and, I am certain, throughout your life.

And I would say this. This is honourable work that we embark on as members of this Assembly. And we most certainly will do all that we can to conduct ourselves in an honourable way in the debate that will be raucous at times. And the Leader of the Opposition has assured me that it will be raucous as we find our way through this fall session and into the spring session, but that is okay. To have that debate on behalf of the people of this province, to have that debate on the floor of this Assembly with you presiding over that debate, ensuring that we are finding our way to a better place when it comes to the decisions of the government, working with the opposition, working with the people that live in Saskatchewan, coming to those better decisions on behalf of the people that collectively we all represent across Saskatchewan.

We should all be aware in our parliamentary system the role of the Speaker is a storied and a historical position. And oftentimes the Speaker was the bearer of bad news to various monarchs, when you go back a number of centuries. And it didn’t always work out for the Speaker when he was bearing that bad news, and thus I think the importance of the mace being carried in here each and every day. Thankfully today that job is nowhere near as dangerous as it was centuries ago.

It is a job, an honourable job and an honourable position. And I am so very, very happy and honoured to work alongside you in this position and proud, proud to have someone with your genuine interest, as you talked to your ability to bring people together, sitting in that very Chair right there.

You’re there to ensure that the rules of this Assembly are followed, no doubt, and most of all that those rules are applied fairly to all of the hon. members that are doing our work on the floor of this Assembly over the course of the next four years so that we are able to represent the constituents that elected us to this Chair to serve and to speak on their behalf, to accomplish the very work that the constituents sent each of us here to accomplish.

And I know that on this side of the Chamber — and I’ll speak for this side of the Chamber — we are planning to go into this session with civility as the creed, civility as a mantra of the government members. The people of Saskatchewan deserve to have all of us conduct ourselves honourably on the floor of this Assembly, and I would assume that the opposition members would agree very much on that point. And let us be able to disagree on the floor of this Assembly without being disagreeable.

This is an honourable place. It’s an honourable building. It’s an honourable institution, and it’s honourable positions that we preside. Becoming a member of this Legislative Assembly is an honourable position, and doing the work that lies ahead of us is honourable work. I would say that if we do not commit totally, entirely to treating one another in an honourable way, how could we expect the people of Saskatchewan to honour the work that we do, through your story of the children that come from various schools to visit here. So I would propose that we all make every effort to make the new Speaker’s job a little bit easier by doing just that, by treating one another honourably on the floor of this Assembly.

And to you, Mr. Speaker, I would say thank you for putting your name forward and being willing to serve as the referee, to serve in this role in this Assembly. The role of the Speaker is a rare opportunity. You’re the 28th Speaker that has served in Saskatchewan. I have full faith in your ability to set your partisan politics aside and conduct yourself with the neutrality that this position requires and the neutrality that this position has received in years gone by.

And I know that at times this new role, it can be a little bit isolating. You don’t have the visiting on the floor that, quite honestly, you enjoyed with both sides of the House. You formed friendships through your approach, your positive approach, in this building on both sides of the House.

And so this position can be a little bit isolating. But I would say this: that those friendships that you have formed in your time here, they’re based on true bonds and they will not be lost. And they will carry on outside the floor of this Assembly, knowing that in your new role you will set at times those friendships aside as you govern this place and enforce the rules so that this place can work smoothly, possibly even set our friendship aside for a couple of moments from time to time. It’s not an easy role. It takes courage, and you most certainly have that courage.

You have a lot of experience as well, as you say, your stories of being a referee, but as I know from the stories that you’ve shared with me, you’re raising six children. You and your lovely wife are raising six children. You’re used to being a referee. You’re also used to getting beat on the basketball court by those kids as they grow up. Being fair and firm is required as a parent and also being fair and firm is required in your service as Speaker. Those skills that you have honed through raising your six children most certainly will come in handy as you find your way through the next four years here.

Also want to extend a thank you to the Clerk of the Assembly and all of the staff here that do all of their work, the Sergeant-at-Arms and the rest of the protection entities in this building. Thank you for allowing us on the floor of this Assembly, and allowing our staff in this building, to get on with the honourable work on behalf of the people that we represent across Saskatchewan.

And I would end by this: welcoming back all of the returning MLAs on both sides of the floor of this Assembly, back to the Legislative Assembly, and to congratulate each of you, wherever you serve, on your successful election. And also welcome all of the new members of this Legislative Assembly to the floor of the Assembly, to the building, and welcome you to your honourable work that lies ahead of you. There is much work for us to do. And with your help, Mr. Speaker, we’ll accomplish all of that work this fall, next spring, and throughout the course of the next four years.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. God bless, and thank you for your service.

Speaker Goudy: — Can I say thank you first? Thank you, Premier. I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Carla Beck: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to join the Premier in welcoming and congratulating you on this new role. And I also want to congratulate all of those returning and the new members to this, the thirtieth Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, sincere congratulations to you on your election as not only the member for Melfort, but now on this election as the Speaker of this Assembly. It is a very important role, and I know that you will serve all of us honourably.

I want to thank you for your heartfelt remarks and your plan on how you’re going to take on this new role as the referee, as you said, of this Assembly. And I know that I’ve had the chance to see you in action on the floor of this Assembly since you first took your place here in 2018 after the untimely passing of Kevin Phillips. And as the Premier said, and I will agree, you’ve earned a reputation on both sides of the Chamber as someone who is kind and someone who is able to see the good in others, who actually genuinely cares about people. I see that kindness and care as something that will serve you well in this new role, extending that grace that you spoke about to all members who take their place in this Assembly.

I too want to thank the Clerk and her team, the Sergeant-at-Arms, for everything you do to make this important Chamber work every day — not just for members but for the people of this province.

So again, Mr. Speaker, I want to say thank you sincerely. All the best to you and to your family as you take on this incredibly important role. Important again, not just for the members of this Assembly but for the good people of Saskatchewan, the people that we all in this Assembly ultimately serve. Congratulations.

Speaker Goudy: — Thank you.

Boy, no matter how many times you’ve heard it, it’s strange to say it. The House will now recess until 2 p.m. later today when His Honour the Lieutenant Governor will present the Speech from the Throne.

[The Assembly recessed from 10:24 until 14:00.]

Published under the authority of the Hon. Todd Goudy, Speaker

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