Marty Klyne appointed as newest Sask. senator

Martin Klyne has been appointed by the Governor General of Canada to be Saskatchewan’s newest senator.

“Little nervous, excited and it’s all coming down pretty fast so just trying to keep up with things here,” Klyne said.

Regina born and raised, Klyne is Cree and Métis and has held a wide variety of leadership positions in the city and the province.

He also has a long history of promoting economic development opportunities for First Nations people and is a familiar face in the sports community.

“I have some great interest in the economic issues and social issues of our First Nations, Métis in Saskatchewan and I also have a great interest in the economic agenda of Saskatchewan overall,” Klyne said.

Most recently Klyne has served on the board of directors for File Hills Qu’Appelle Developments which works with 11 First Nations communities to build business and economic partnerships.

In the past, he has served on the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board. He was recently appointed CEO of the RCMP Heritage Centre.

He was the Chief Operating Officer of the Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group which runs the Regina Pats and served as president of the Grey Cup 2003.

Klyne was the publisher of the Leader-Post and StarPhoenix from 2008 to 2013 and prior to that, he served as president of the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation.

He graduated from the University of Regina with a degree in business administration and remains connected to the First Nations University of Canada as a sessional lecturer.

He said there was quite a lengthy process involved in getting the nomination. Nominations were made through applications back in April.

Klyne said he was asked last Thursday if he could take a call on Friday.

“Thinking it was another, perhaps, level of review or perusal of the application and it turned out it was the Prime Minister on Friday.”

He said Justin Trudeau asked him to sit as an independent on the Senate and expects people to make the right decisions on behalf of the greater good of Canada.

Former RCMP Commissioner Beverly Busson was also appointed to the Senate for B.C.