Saskatchewan Party co-founder Krawetz dead at 75

REGINA – Ken Krawetz, one of the founding members of the Saskatchewan Party and a staunch advocate of the Ukrainian community, has died.

Krawetz was 75.

Premier Scott Moe, the head of the Saskatchewan Party, confirmed Krawetz’s death in a post Thursday on social media. He said flags will be lowered to half-mast at the legislature in Krawetz’s honour.

Moe said he remembers Krawetz as someone who loved his family, his community, and even hockey’s woebegone Toronto Maple Leafs.

“This one hurts a lot,” Moe wrote on X.

“Ken was always the guy who brought the logic, integrity, compassion and common sense to arrive at the right decision.”

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Krawetz was first elected as a legislature member in 1995, embarking on a journey that saw him co-found the Saskatchewan Party and eventually sit in cabinet as deputy premier, minister of education and of finance.

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He was best known for his work advocating for Saskatchewan’s Ukrainian community, shepherding the passage of the province’s Holodomor Memorial Day Act.

He was born in Canora, Sask., on April 15, 1951, and began his professional career as a teacher and municipal councillor.

He entered provincial politics as a Liberal in 1995, running and winning in Canora-Pelly. Two years later, he and three other Liberal MLAs joined four Progressive Conservatives to form the Saskatchewan Party as a unified right-centre alternative to the dominant NDP.

When the Saskatchewan Party won government in 2007, he served in his various cabinet roles before retiring from politics in 2016.

He was lauded as a champion of the Ukrainian community. He played a leading role in commemorative activities, including the 2015 dedication of the “Bitter Memories of Childhood” statue in Regina. It’s a replica of the monument at the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv.

He led delegations to Ukraine, participated in memorial ceremonies, and worked closely with the Saskatchewan-Ukraine Relations advisory committee.

In 2022, Ukraine appointed Krawetz its honorary consul in Saskatchewan. He helped co-ordinate Saskatchewan’s response to Russia’s invasion, including humanitarian aid and help for those displaced by the fighting.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2026.