Agriculture Minister David Marit at Government House in Regina on Monday Nov. 9, 2020. Marit says he requested a public service medal be returned after learning the man awarded the honour was charged with domestic violence. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell
REGINA – Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister says he requested a public service medal be returned as the recipient had been convicted of domestic assault.
“It is not appropriate for someone who is guilty of domestic abuse to receive a medal or an honour from the province,” David Marit said in a statement Tuesday.
Jim Wickett, a former chairman of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association from Rosetown, Sask., was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in December.
Provincial court records show Wickett was convicted Feb. 9 of an assault that happened in June.
Marit said he accepted ministry recommendations for the award last year and put forward nominations for people who had served in the agriculture industry.
“At the time of the nomination and at the time of the medal presentation, I was not aware of these circumstances,” Marit said.
“To be clear, I would never have nominated someone for such an honour had I known.”
The minister said he learned of the domestic violence charge and guilty plea last week. Marit said he immediately asked for the return of the medal and Wickett complied.
Global News first reported that Marit nominated Wickett, and it requested comment last week from the minister about the domestic violence charge.
Marit apologized and said the provincial government is committed to working to end domestic abuse.
The Saskatchewan Party government apologized last year after a man convicted of first-degree murder attended its throne speech.
Lyle Stewart, who has since resigned his seat because of his health, was stripped of his legislative secretary duties after inviting notorious killer Colin Thatcher to the speech.
Thatcher’s ex-wife, JoAnn Wilson, was found beaten and shot to death in the garage of her Regina home in 1983.
Stewart later called the decision to invite Thatcher “an error in judgment.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.
– By Kelly Geraldine Malone in Saskatoon
