Sask. ag critic now ag minister

Bob Bjornerud, a founding member of the Saskatchewan Party and most recently its critic for agriculture, was sworn into office Wednesday as the province’s new agriculture minister.

Brad Wall was sworn in Wednesday evening as Saskatchewan’s 14th premier and introduced his cabinet, which includes 18 of the party’s 38 MLAs. Wall’s team reduced Lorne Calvert’s New Democrats to 20 seats and shut out the provincial Liberal party in the Nov. 7 election.

Bjornerud farms at Saltcoats in the province’s southeast and had previously spent some time in the mining industry at nearby Esterhazy. He served on the Saltcoats rural municipality’s council for 14 years, including seven as reeve.

He was first elected as a Liberal MLA in 1995, and was one of the coalition of Progressive Conservatives and Liberals who formed the Saskatchewan Party in 1997. He was re-elected in what’s now Melville-Saltcoats in 1999, 2003 and again Nov. 7.

Bjornerud replaces ex-NDP MLA Mark Wartman in the agriculture portfolio. Wartman lost his Regina-area seat by a narrow margin.

Bjornerud was also named as minister for the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation, which is headquartered in Melville.

Moose Jaw-area MLA Lyle Stewart, most recently the Saskatchewan Party’s deputy ag and rural development critic, also earned a cabinet post Wednesday night as minister of enterprise and innovation. Stewart, an MLA since 1999, farms at Pense.

Wall has no shortage otherwise of farmers and former farmers at his cabinet table, also including Energy Minister Bill Boyd, Health Minister Don McMorris, First Nations and Metis Relations Minister June Draude, Highways Minister Wayne Elhard, Government Services Minister Dan D’Autremont and Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer.

The Saskatchewan legislature’s next session begins Dec. 10. Wall noted in a release Thursday that this will mark the shortest period between an election and the start of a new session in the province’s history.