Inviting convicted killer Colin Thatcher to throne speech 'an error in judgment,' Sask. MLA says

A Saskatchewan MLA is calling his decision to invite convicted killer Colin Thatcher to the legislative building on Wednesday an error in judgment.

MLA Lyle Stewart said in a statement Thursday, it was his decision to invite Thatcher to the throne speech. He called Thatcher a “constituent and long-time friend.”

“In retrospect, this was an error in judgment as his presence was a distraction from a very positive and forward-looking Throne Speech, which included a number of new initiatives to keep Saskatchewan families safe in their communities,” Stewart said in the statement.

Thatcher, 84, spent 22 years behind bars for the murder of his wife JoAnn Wilson. A jury found the former Saskatchewan cabinet minister guilty of first-degree murder after Wilson was bludgeoned and shot to death in the garage of her Regina home in 1983.

He was granted parole in 2006. Thatcher has always maintained his innocence.

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said she feels the decision warrants an apology.

In an interview Thursday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe noted there are a number of invitations sent out for the speech from the throne event, including individual invitations on behalf of MLAs.

“The MLAs have an invitation list that they’re provided from the legislative assembly and they conduct themselves with inviting constituents that they choose to invite,” Moe said.

“This MLA, Lyle Stewart, invited this individual to the throne speech yesterday, I would have done things differently.”

Moe said he does not vet the invitation lists and does not have plans to in the future.

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said Thatcher getting an invitation showed “an absolutely shocking lack of judgment on part of that minister.”

“Throne speech day is a by invitation only event. Those invitations are vetted through caucus, if the premier didn’t know, as the leader he reasonably ought to have known. The fact this did not send up a red flag to anyone over there is shocking to me,” Beck said Thursday.

“I think the premier should also apologize and show some contrition here and show that he understands just a little bit the implications of what it meant to have Colin Thatcher here.”

Moe was asked if he would apologize by reporters on Thursday morning.

“Me? What would I apologize for?” The premier responded. “This is an individual that invited someone. It wasn’t a government that invited someone. I think we need to draw that distinction.”

'TONE DEAF'

The executive director of the University of Regina’s Women’s Centre called Thatcher’s invitation “tone deaf” considering Saskatchewan has some of the highest rates of interpersonal violence in the country.

“You want your constituents to know that you take this stuff seriously and then you invite a man who has been convicted of killing his wife,” Jill Arnott said.

“It is upholding a particular structure of power in our social body that says, ‘we trust him, we believe him, he is more important, he is more valuable.’”

Arnott said Stewart, and the rest of the government, should not only apologize, but outline actions they will take to ensure they understand the gravity of this mistake. She recommended leaders visit a women's shelter to see first hand how interpersonal violence impacts constituents in the province.

The Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS), an organization that works toward eliminating intimate partner and family violence, said the message Thatcher’s invitation sends is “disturbing.”

“The optics to survivors of having Colin Thatcher invited by an elected official to the throne speech is that JoAnn’s death is inconsequential; that a person can be deemed guilty of femicide, of the death of the mother of his own children and still be welcome in the halls of power,” Jo-Anne Dusel, PATHS’ executive director, said in a statement Thursday.

Dusel said while Stewart has recognized his “error in judgment,” she hopes the incident can serve as an opportunity for reflection.

With the government sharing a throne speech touting new policing plans to be tougher on crime Wednesday, University of Regina political scientist Jim Farney said it was interesting to see Thatcher in attendance.

“There was this really bizarre juxtaposition that Colin Thatcher was there as an invited guest. So it’s law-and-order but maybe not quite law-and-order,” he said.

Farney said the effects of the public perception of Thatcher’s invite will likely become clear over the next few days.

“I think we’ll see in the next 24 to 48 hours and couple of media sessions,” Farney said.

“It damages the party if the people of Saskatchewan decide this is a piece of hypocrisy they’re not willing to stand for. If they decide it’s something that a single MLA did involving someone who committed a crime a long time ago, it really does depend on what sort of story the population hears and sees.”

With files from The Canadian Press