About Roy Romanow:
A Saskatchewan lawyer, Romanow was first elected to the Saskatchewan legislature in 1967. As attorney general and deputy premier of Saskatchewan he introduced justice reforms, including the provincial legal aid plan and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. As intergovernmental affairs minister he was heavily involved in the Constitutional Accord of 1981.
Roy Romanow became Premier of Saskatchewan in 1991. During his time as premier, Roy Romanow's government balanced the provincial budget, made major reforms to health care, including regionalization, and diversified the provincial economy, which had been dependent on a struggling agricultural sector. Roy Romanow was also an active participant in the constitutional negotiations leading up to the Charlottetown Accord of 1992. He remained premier until he retired from politics in February 2001. Soon after his retirement, he headed the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.
Premier of Saskatchewan:
1991 to 2001
Head of Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada:
2001-02
Birth:
August 12, 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Education:
- BA in Political Science - University of Saskatchewan
- LLB - University of Saskatchewan
Professional Background of Roy Romanow:
- Lawyer
- Chair of Commission on the Future of Health Care
- Member of federal government Security Intelligence Review Committee
- Chair of Canadian Index of Well-Being Advisory Board
Political Affiliation:
Riding (Electoral District):
Saskatoon Riversdale (1967-82, 1986-2001)
Political Career of Roy Romanow:
- Active in student politics while in university, Roy Romanow was first elected to the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly in 1967.
- In 1970 he took a run at the NDP leadership and just narrowly missed beating Allan Blakeney. When the NDP were re-elected in 1971, Roy Romanow was appointed Deputy Premier, House Leader and Attorney General by Premier Allan Blakeney.
- In the 1970s, Roy Romanow was responsible for initiating Saskatchewan's first human rights code and commission, an ombudsman office, Saskatchewan's first legal aid plan, the Indian constables program with the RCMP, and the establishment of the Meewasin Valley Authority to enhance Saskatoon’s riverbank environment.
- In 1979, Roy Romanow was appointed Saskatchewan's minister of intergovernmental affairs. He was one of the key players in the federal-provincial negotiations that resulted in the Constitutional Accord and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. In late November 1981, a last-minute compromise worked out in the kitchen of the Chateau Laurier Hotel by Roy Romanow, Jean Chrétien, then federal justice minister, and Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry became known as the "kitchen accord."
- The Blakeney government was badly defeated in the Saskatchewan provincial election of 1982, and Roy Romanow lost his seat.
- In 1986 Roy Romanow won the Riversdale seat again.
- He took over the leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP in 1987 when Allan Blakeney retired.
- The NDP won a huge victory in the 1991 Saskatchewan provincial election, and Roy Romanow became Premier of Saskatchewan.
- By 1999, budget constraints, a backlash from rural voters and a nurses' strike took their toll and Romanow's government was reduced to a minority in the provinical election. The NDP formed a coalition with three sitting Liberal MLAs.
- Roy Romanow announced his resignation in 2000, and left office once Lorne Calvert became NDP leader in 2001.
- Just a few months after retiring, Roy Romanow was appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to head the Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.
