REGINA — A longtime minister for the Saskatchewan Party has announced he is retiring from provincial politics and will not be running in the next election.

Don Morgan says it has been a privilege to have represented the Saskatoon Southeast riding since 2003.

As one of the longest-serving current ministers in Canada, Morgan has headed Education, Justice and Labour Relations under Premier Scott Moe and former premier Brad Wall. 

He has been minister of Crown Investments since 2020. 

Morgan says in a social media post he will be 74 years old at the time of the next election and he thinks voters should have an opportunity to choose a fresh face. 

Three additional Saskatchewan Party members announced today that they will not be running in the provincial election scheduled for October 2024. 

Delbert Kirsch, the member for Batoche, Fred Bradshaw, the member for Carrot River Valley, and Environment Minister Dana Skoropad, who represents Arm River, are also stepping away from provincial politics. 

“It has been a fascinating time for our province,” Morgan said Friday in the social media post. 

“We have seen it grow from a wee province to one that has taken its rightful place in the Confederation. I have been proud to have been part of that change.”

He noted some achievements, including extending Workers’ Compensation cancer coverage for firefighters, increasing fines and penalties when workers are injured on the job, removing expiration dates on gift cards, creating an asbestos registry for buildings and appointing Indigenous judges.

“In his historic tenure with the labour portfolio, I have particularly appreciated his dutiful attention to the prevention of workplace harassment and violence,” said Lori Johb, president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, said in a statement.

Morgan was born and raised in Saskatoon, graduating from the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan in 1978. He was also the CEO of the Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission and served on the Saskatoon Public School Board. 

Morgan said his health is good and he would like to travel and spend time with his wife Sandy.

With the next election just over a year away, Moe has said the results of three byelections earlier this month sent the governing Saskatchewan Party a message about the cost of living and housing.

The New Democrats flipped seats in Regina Walsh Acres and Regina Coronation Park. The governing Saskatchewan Party held the rural riding of Lumsden-Morse.

Moe said it’s now up to the Saskatchewan Party government to listen and act.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2023.

The Canadian Press