Former Sask. Party MLA Lyle Stewart dies after battle with cancer

Former Saskatchewan Party MLA Lyle Stewart has died after a battle with cancer. He was 73.

Premier Scott Moe paid tribute to the party stalwart, who resigning his Lumsden-Morse seat in 2023, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.

Another difficult day as we have lost another friend and colleague. Lyle Stewart, long-time Saskatchewan Party MLA and former Agriculture Minister has passed away at the age of 73 following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Lyle was the MLA for Thunder Creek and Lumsden-Morse and a… pic.twitter.com/UeHroh3Np6

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) July 30, 2024

Stewart had been battling prostate cancer.

“All good things have to come to an end, so they say, and I’ve been coming to work in this place — and what a place it is — for 23 1/2 years,” Stewart said when announcing his resignation in the Legislative Assembly

Stewart was first elected in 1999 and was re-elected in five subsequent provincial elections. During his time in government, he served as minister of enterprise and innovation, minister of agriculture, provincial secretary, and legislative secretary responsible for provincial autonomy.

He was removed from that latter post by Premier Scott Moe in 2022 after Stewart invited convicted murderer Colin Thatcher to the Speech from the Throne. Stewart later said he made an “error in judgment” in inviting his friend to the event.

He’s also known for foiling an attempted carjacking in October of 2009. Stewart fought off the man — who stabbed Stewart with a pen during the attack — and held the man down until police arrived.

Stewart, who resigned as agriculture minister in 2018 to focus on his battle with cancer, said in a media release that it was “an honour” to work during his career with Moe and with former premier Brad Wall.

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