Roy Romanow

Roy Romanow was born, raised, and educated in Saskatoon. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan where he earned his Arts and Law Degrees. He was first elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature in 1967. Between 1971 and 1982, Roy Romanow served as Deputy Premier of Saskatchewan.

Throughout those 11 years, he also served as Saskatchewan's Attorney General, and was responsible for the introduction of a number of justice system reforms, including: the introduction of a provincial legal aid plan; the amalgamation of the District and Queen’s Bench courts; the creation of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission; the introduction of a Saskatchewan Human Rights Code; and the creation of the Provincial Ombudsman's Office.

In 1979, Mr. Romanow was appointed Saskatchewan's Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. And he was one of the key players in the federal-provincial negotiations that resulted in the Constitutional Accord and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982.

In 1982, Mr. Romanow was appointed a Visiting Scholar at the University of Saskatchewan. During this period, he co-authored a book on the making of Canada’s new Constitution entitled, “Canada … Notwithstanding.”

Mr. Romanow also served as a member on the Canadian Medical Association Task Force on the Allocation of Health Care Resources from 1983 to 1985.

On November 7, 1987, Mr. Romanow was acclaimed Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party to succeed Allan Blakeney. On November 1, 1991, he was sworn in as Premier of Saskatchewan, a post he held until the spring of 2001, at which time he retired from active political life. During his time as Premier, his government balanced the provincial budget; placed the province’s fiscal position on solid footing; undertook large-scale reforms to healthcare, based on the premise of wellness and prevention; expanded and diversified the economic base of the province; and implemented new programs and funding for the Action Plan for Children, and the introduction of the Building Independence strategy to help move families off social assistance. Mr. Romanow was also an active participant in the negotiations leading up to the Charlottetown Accord of 1992.

On April 4 2001, Roy Romanow was appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to head the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada. The Commission's mandate was to recommend policies and measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of a universally accessible, high quality publicly-administered health care system for all Canadians.  The Commission’s Final Report, entitled “Building On Values,” was released to the public on November 28, 2002.

In early 2003, Mr. Romanow received the Economic Justice Award from the Atkinson Charitable Foundation of Toronto. He also received honourary degrees from several universities. In the fall of 2003, Mr. Romanow was recognized by the Pan American Health Organization, receiving their Administration Award for his work on the Health Commission and his commitment to human rights and justice initiatives. In late 2003, Mr. Romanow was appointed to the Privy Council of Canada and to the Security Intelligence Review Committee.

In December 2004, Mr. Romanow was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Currently, Mr. Romanow holds the positions of Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan and Visiting Fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University.