Davey Steuart’s keen wit and dedication were remembered in the Saskatchewan legislature Nov. 8.
The former Liberal leader and cabinet minister died Nov. 5 in Kelowna, B.C. He was 94.
Flags were lowered to half-mast upon the news of Steuart’s death.
Speakers from the government and opposition side of the legislature spoke of Steuart’s five-decades-long career in public service.
After serving as a navigator during the Second World War, Steuart spent several years on Prince Albert city council including two terms as mayor.
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He was first elected as an MLA in Prince Albert-Duck Lake in a 1962 byelection and was part of Ross Thatcher’s Liberal government that came to power in 1964.
He served as minister of health, natural resources, finance and deputy premier, and took over the Liberal leadership after Thatcher’s unexpected death in 1971.
He stayed in that capacity until 1975 and was appointed to the Senate in 1976.
He retired in 1991.
“His great wit and humour were well known,” said NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter during a tribute.
“He delivered the ‘Black Friday’ budget in 1968, a difficult budget, which he nevertheless delivered with his trademark sense of humour, saying, ‘this is probably the first time in history of a legislature that a provincial treasurer delivered the budget not from his desk but from under his desk.’ ”
Saskatchewan Party Thunder Creek MLA Lyle Stewart said Steuart is remembered as someone who saw the province’s great economic potential. He was among those who pushed for the development of a private potash industry.
“Described by some as the bantam rooster of Saskatchewan politics, there was never any doubt that Saskatchewan came first with him and he was always ready to fight for the interests of his province,” Stewart said.
Steuart is survived by a son and daughter.
A funeral service was scheduled for Nov. 10 in Kelowna.
