Roy Romanow, former Premier of the Province of Saskatchewan, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 9:00 a.m. ceremony on Saturday, June 18, “in recognition of an outstanding career as a politician and advocate of social reform.”
Born, raised, and educated in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, The Honourable Roy Romanow first appeared in Canadian politics when elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature in 1967. From 1971-1982, he served as Saskatchewan’s Deputy Premier and introduced several justice system reforms, including the creation of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. He was also a key figure in helping Canada patriate its Constitution.
In 1991 he was sworn in as Saskatchewan’s Premier, a position he held until his retirement in 2001. During his tenure as Premier, the government balanced the budget and undertook important reforms in health care, among many other accomplishments.
In 2002, Roy Romanow was appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada. In 2003, he received the Economic Justice Award from the Atkinson Charitable Foundation and was appointed to the Privy Council of Canada. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of honorary degrees from Brock University and the University of Ottawa, and is currently a Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina, a Visiting Fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University, and a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee