Province apologizes after learning Sask. service medal recipient pleaded guilty to domestic assault
CBC
The Saskatchewan government is apologizing after discovering that a recipient of a medal awarded to citizens for service to their community had previoulsy pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge.
Jim Wickett, a former chairman of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association from Rosetown, Sask., was among those awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in December.
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit says he learned about Wickett's charge last Wednesday.
"I took immediate action and reached out to the protocol office," Marit told reporters at the legislature in Regina on Tuesday afternoon — the first time Marit commented on the matter.
Wickett was immediately asked to return the medal after the province learned about the assault and has done so, the agriculture minister said.
The medal was created to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, and was presented to recipients in several Canadian provinces. In Saskatchewan, 7,000 medals were awarded to "deserving citizens," according to the province, including people nominated for the recognition by members of the legislature.
Wickett was on a list of nominees from the agriculture industry that Marit's ministry put forward in 2022, and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in December.
Marit said he had no idea about the assault when the nominations were made or when the medals were handed out.
"Obviously I'm very apologetic to … victims and survivors of domestic abuse, and it has no place in society and our government does everything we can to eliminate domestic abuse," said Marit.
"It's very difficult. Obviously you put names forward of people you feel are deserving of an award. And when something like this happens, obviously it tugs at your heart. It does."
The provincial government's latest apology comes about six months after it issued one for inviting a man convicted of first-degree murder to its throne speech.
Convicted killer Colin Thatcher was invited to those proceedings by former Saskatchewan Party MLA Lyle Stewart, whose legislative secretary duties were later taken away.
Thatcher's ex-wife, JoAnn Wilson, was found beaten and shot to death in the garage of her Regina home in 1983. Thatcher was found guilty of first-degree murder in her death in 1984. He was granted full parole in November 2006.
After significant backlash to Thatcher's invitation to last October's throne speech, Stewart said his decision was "an error in judgment." Stewart has since resigned his seat for health reasons.
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