Family Ties in the Saskatchewan Legislature
Since the establishment of the Province of Saskatchewan in 1905, there have been 20 known instances of familial relationships among Members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. Table 1 presents a full list of kinship ties. Types of kinship have included: fathers and sons, a mother and son, husbands and wives, brothers, a father and daughter, a brother and sister, a grandmother and grandson, a grandfather and grandson, and an uncle and nephew. Other interesting observations of the kinship ties include:
- In 1919 Sarah K. Ramsland not only became the first female to be elected to the Legislative Assembly, but she also became the first and only wife to immediately succeed her husband, as her husband Magnus died in office as the Member for Pelly and she won the subsequent by-election in that constituency. Though re-elected in the General Election of 1921, she was defeated in her bid for re-election in 1925.
- The Ramslands do not represent the only occasion of one family member immediately succeeding another. Benjamin Heppner was elected to the constituency of Rosthern in 1995 and 1999, and then to the new constituency of Martensville in 2003. After his death in September 2006, his daughter Nancy ran in and won the subsequent Martensville by-election in March 2007. She was re-elected in the following three General Elections.
- On three separate occasions family members have served concurrently in the Legislative Assembly. Fathers and sons Oakland W. Valleau and Delmar S. Valleau served together as MLAs from 1944-48; John H. Brockelbank and John E. Brockelbank from 1964-67, and brothers Edward H. Walker and Robert A. Walker from 1951-56.
- The political leanings of related members have differed only three times. Dennis M. Ham was elected in 1975 as a Progressive Conservative while his sister Lynda M. Haverstock was elected 1991 as a Liberal, later sitting as an Independent. William M. Martin was elected in 1916 as a Liberal while his nephew Gordon B. Martin (1986) was Progressive Conservative. Finally, W. Ross Thatcher was elected as a Liberal in 1960 as was his son Colin in 1975, though Colin was re-elected in 1977 as a Progressive Conservative.
- There has been one known instance of three generations of a family serving in the Legislative Assembly. Tony Merchant was an MLA from 1975-1978, his mother Sally Merchant from 1964–1967, and his grandfather Vincent Smith from 1934–1938.
- In addition to kinship relationships in the Saskatchewan Legislature, there are also cases of kinship between elected officials at the provincial level and the federal level, as outlined in Table 2.
- Joseph W. Burton was elected as the MLA for Humboldt in 1938-1943, then as the Member of Parliament for Humboldt from 1943-1949 (returning to provincial politics as the representative for the same constituency from 1952-1956). His son John S. Burton was elected to the House of Commons as the member for the Regina East electoral district in 1968 and served as such until his defeat in the 1972 federal election.
- Pana P. Merchant was the second woman to represent Saskatchewan in the Senate, serving from 2002-2017; her husband is Tony Merchant, the member for the provincial constituency of Regina Wascana from 1975-1978.
Table 1: Familial Relationships in the Saskatchewan Legislature
Family Members |
First Elected |
First Constituency Represented |
Party |
Fathers and Sons |
|||
Brockelbank, John H. |
1938 |
Tisdale |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation1 |
Brockelbank, John E. |
1964 |
Saskatoon City |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
Embury, Alan W. |
1944 |
Area 2 (Mediterranean Sea) |
Active Service Voters2 |
Embury, Timothy B. |
1982 |
Regina Lakeview |
Progressive Conservative |
Gardiner, James G. |
1914 |
North Qu’Appelle |
Liberal |
Gardiner, James W. |
1956 |
Melville |
Liberal |
MacNutt, Thomas |
1905 |
Saltcoats |
Liberal |
MacNutt, Thomas R. |
1952 |
Nipawin |
Liberal |
Marion, A. Jules |
1926 |
Ile a la Crosse |
Liberal |
Marion, Louis M. |
1944 |
Athabasca |
Liberal / Independent |
Merriman, Ted |
2003 |
Saskatoon Northwest |
Saskatchewan Party3 |
Merriman, Paul |
2011 |
Saskatoon Sutherland |
Saskatchewan Party |
Thatcher, W. Ross |
1960 |
Morse |
Liberal |
Thatcher, W. Colin |
1975 |
Thunder Creek |
Liberal / Progressive Conservative |
Valleau, Oakland W. |
1938 |
Melfort |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
Valleau, Delmar S. |
1944 |
Area 1 (Great Britain) |
Active Service Voters |
Mother and Son |
|||
Merchant, Sally M.A. |
1964 |
Saskatoon City |
Liberal |
Merchant, Tony |
1975 |
Regina Wascana |
Liberal |
Husbands and Wives |
|||
Ramsland, Magnus O. |
1917 |
Pelly |
Liberal |
Ramsland, Sarah K. |
1919 |
Pelly |
Liberal |
Young, Kimberly J. |
1982 |
Saskatoon Eastview |
Progressive Conservative |
Young, Colleen L. |
2014 |
Lloydminster |
Saskatchewan Party |
Brothers |
|||
Carlson, Irving |
1971 |
Yorkton |
New Democratic Party |
Carlson, Evan |
1991 |
Melville |
New Democratic Party |
Walker, Edward H. |
1951 |
Gravelbourg |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
Walker, Robert A. |
1948 |
Hanley |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
Father and Daughter |
|||
Heppner, Benjamin D. |
1995 |
Rosthern |
Progressive Conservative / Saskatchewan Party |
Heppner, Nancy |
2007 |
Martensville |
Saskatchewan Party |
Smith, Vincent R. |
1934 |
Yorkton |
Liberal |
Merchant, Sally M.A. |
1964 |
Saskatoon City |
Liberal |
Brother and Sister |
|||
Ham, Dennis M. |
1975 |
Swift Current |
Progressive Conservative / Unionist |
Haverstock, Lynda M. |
1991 |
Saskatoon Greystone |
Liberal / Independent |
Grandmother and Grandson |
|||
Trew, Beatrice J. |
1944 |
Maple Creek |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
Trew, Kim D. |
1986 |
Regina North |
New Democratic Party |
Grandfather and Grandson |
|||
Broten, Hans A. |
1960 |
Watrous |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
Broten, Cam |
2007 |
Saskatoon Massey Place |
New Democratic Party |
Smith, Vincent R. |
1934 |
Yorkton |
Liberal |
Merchant, Tony |
1975 |
Regina Wascana |
Liberal |
Uncle and Nephew |
|||
Martin, William M. |
1916 |
Regina City |
Liberal |
Martin, Gordon B. |
1986 |
Regina Wascana |
Progressive Conservative |
Table 2: Familial Relationships in the Saskatchewan Legislature and Canadian Parliament
Family Members |
First Elected / Appointed |
Representing |
Party |
Father and Son |
|||
Burton, Joseph W. |
1938 |
Humboldt |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
1943 |
Humboldt |
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation |
|
Burton, John S. |
1968 |
Regina East |
New Democratic Party |
Husband and Wife |
|||
Merchant, Tony |
1975 |
Regina Wascana (Saskatchewan Leg.) |
Liberal |
Merchant, Pana P. |
2002 |
Region Member – Saskatchewan (Senate) |
Liberal |
Sources:
Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Executive and Legislative Directory: Members of the Legislative Assembly. Regina: The Archives, 2019. https://www.saskarchives.com/sites/default/files/pdf/2019_members_of_leg_assembly.pdf Accessed June 2020.
Saskatchewan. Legislative Library. Family Relationships in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly and/or the Canadian House of Commons and Senate. Regina: The Library, 2020. [internal document compiled from published information sources].
Notes
1 The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation was the forerunner to the New Democratic Party.
2 Active Service Voters’ Representatives represented members of the Canadian armed services on active duty in Great Britain from 1944 to 1948.
3 The Saskatchewan Party was established in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative and Liberal party members and supporters.