REGINA — Opposition New Democrats were demanding answers following a news report that Advanced Education Minister Ken Cheveldayoff had broken Assembly rules on subleasing his constituency office.
The NDP were reacting to a CBC News investigation that Cheveldayoff, MLA for Saskatoon Willowgrove, had subleased his constituency office space for several years to Churchman and Co., a local Saskatoon law firm.
That was despite a Legislative Assembly directive passed in 2016 by the Board of Internal Economy that explicitly forbids MLAs from renting out or subletting constituency offices.
At a news conference Monday at the legislature, Opposition Leader Carla Beck noted that despite this, the CBC article said Cheveldayoff “signed a lease agreement one year in 2017 after those rules were put in place and since then has refused to answer questions to explain why.”
She noted that documents obtained by the CBC indicated Cheveldayoff “was warned by multiple officials multiple times that he was indeed in breach of the rules that continued none the less.”
“Bottom line is this. Saskatchewan people respect their elected officials not only for these principles but for all of those principles. We have serious questions about Moe and his minister and the overall judgement of this government.”
NDP democracy and ethics critic Jordan McPhail said the story “raises a lot of serious questions about ethics and accountability.”
“We have rules for a reason, and Moe's minister apparently believes that they don't apply to him. Ducking questions and backing out of interviews isn't the type of behaviour you'd expect from someone who has done nothing wrong. That is why we are calling for answers from Moe and his minister to a number of basic questions.”
McPhail said those questions included: “did the Premier know about this? Was the conflict of interest commissioner informed? Was the privacy commissioner informed? What steps were taken to ensure that the privacy of those people accessing a constituency office was protected? Why did the Minister accept donations from his tenant? Did the minister recuse himself from any cabinet or caucus discussion involving this law firm? Why did the Minister ignore the directives of the Legislative Assembly? And will the Minister release the lease agreement?”
“This thing stinks, and the people of Saskatchewan deserve answers,” McPhail said.
At this point the NDP are not calling for Cheveldayoff's resignation. Instead they are demanding accountability from Cheveldayoff and the government.
"Every piece of this story lends itself to more questions," Beck said. "And I think that if I were giving the Minister advice, I would tell him to come clean, answer these questions fully, because the more that comes out, as I've said, the worse it looks and the more questions people have."
Beck and McPhail were asked if it made a difference that this is no longer happening. According to the CBC report, Cheveldayoff began complying with the directive in 2024 after newly elected Speaker Todd Goudy asked Cheveldayoff to find a new lease arrangement that was in line with the rules.
Beck said there are “still a lot of questions here. Ten years, almost ten years in violation of a very explicit rule.”
“I think it's super important that we get the Minister to answer some of these questions. I understand he was initially willing to answer some questions, but has backed away from that. Whether he violated the rules yesterday, or two months ago, or two years ago, I think the people in this province rightly expect and deserve that their elected officials follow the rules that are set for us, set by us. And I don't understand, honestly, how the minister could be in such flagrant violation of these rules for so many years, and now expect that he doesn't have to answer questions about it.”
During question period, both Beck and McPhail tried a line of questioning regarding Cheveldayoff's subletting of his constituency office. Both times Speaker Goudy ruled the line of questioning out of order. In the case of McPhail, Goudy asked he withdraw and apologize for his remarks about the "sublet scandal of the Minister of Advanced Education" after previously ruling that type of question out of order.
Response from government
In a statement issued Monday afternoon, Cheveldayoff said the following:
"I have always been completely transparent with the Legislative Assembly Office regarding any and all of my MLA office expenses. There was a difference of opinion with Legislative Assembly Services on matters regarding the renting of my constituency office. I felt the arrangement was within the rule of the Assembly and previous Speakers of the House allowed that arrangement. When the current Speaker asked me to discontinue the subletting arrangement and pursue a new lease arrangement, I made those changes. The matter has now been resolved to the satisfaction of the current Speaker."
In speaking to reporters, Premier Scott Moe said he was “not involved" in the matter, nor had the details of it. He said details of the relationship between Legislative Assembly Services and the 61 MLAs on how their offices function “is not actually an area where the Premier or the government is involved. It is a relationship between MLAs, their constituency office and Assembly Services.”
Moe added that he “understands there were some questions asked about that and they were rectified.”
When asked if it had bothered him that this had been going on for eight years, Moe said: “I’m finding out about this as you are as well with respect to what may or may not have happened… I just don’t know what precisely has occurred here, but my understanding is that he’s been transparent with Legislative Services, the Speaker of the House which is where responsibility lies throughout, and ultimately that this particular Speaker has asked there be some changes and I understand those have happened… This is not a place for the government to weigh in, this is a relationship that each duly elected MLA has with how they function with their constituency offices."
When asked whether or not Cheveldayoff was following the rules was something he would want to find out, Moe replied that "what I would want to know is are MLAs communicating precisely and following what is in place when it comes to how they're operating their MLA offices, how they're compensating their constituency assistants, for example, are they disclosing all of that and working with Legislative Assembly Services, and ensuring that the Speaker who is the head of that organization is aware of everything that is happening in how those offices are operating."
The NDP’s McPhail did not buy Premier Moe’s answers to the media.
"It's my understanding that the Premier just came out here and basically told you guys that he didn’t know about this subletting scandal, that he didn’t care to know any more about the scandal, and that he wasn’t going to ask the Minister any questions," McPhail said to reporters.
“I've got a lot of questions… I think that the Premier should have a heck of a better response to the people of Saskatchewan, considering his Minister has done this for multiple years, being warned multiple times. This is a Minister who is clearly, by his actions, showing that the rules don’t apply to him, and for the Premier to come out here and pretend like he didn’t know about it and didn’t care about it is just plain wrong.”
As for having to withdraw his remarks in question period, McPhail acknowledged that he apologized and withdrew on the floor of the legislature, but added “I will not apologize and withdraw out here when I’m speaking on behalf of the people of Saskatchewan, who are sick and tired of Sask Party mismanagement, waste and scandal.”
