Gail Krawetz never thought she’d write a political history book, but that’s exactly what she’s done.
The Invermay-based newspaper columnist and blogger, who has a regular column in the Preeceville Progress, has written her first book, Risk & Reward, The Birth & Meteoric Rise of the Saskatchewan Party.
Krawetz was born and raised in Saskatchewan, and says she has been devoted to her home province pretty much ever since she can remember.
As a history teacher, she shared her love of Saskatchewan with her students. As an English teacher, she was known for tough editing of her students’ work.
Later, as a political wife, Krawetz supported her husband through the decades of change of which she writes in Risk & Reward.
Krawetz said the idea for the book originally came from June Draude, former Kelvington-Wadena MLA and one of the eight original MLAs of the Sask Party. Draude encouraged her to write a book on the origins of the party, and Krawetz took on the challenge.
As she began to do research in the spring of 2016, Krawetz realized that no books had been written on the history of the Sask Party.
“I believed the story needed to be told accurately and preserved while the majority of those involved were still able to share their involvement in the story.”
Krawetz’ husband Ken was the eighth of the original MLAs to form the party, which gave her a unique perspective.
“But since we weren’t involved in prior discussions, it was important for me to interview the others involved.”
The book includes interviews with about 50 people. Krawetz said they told great stories and really brought the book to life.
Krawetz said the book covers the time period from after the provincial election in 1995 up to the 2007 election when the Sask Party first came to power.
A merger between the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties in Saskatchewan had been discussed for many years, but the circumstances were close to ideal for it to happen after the ’95 election, she said.
A dozen Tory MLAs and some staff had been charged with various counts of fraud and breach of trust, which rapidly led to a serious depletion of support for the party as they fell to only five elected MLAs. Meanwhile, the Liberals only did marginally better with a total of 11 seats in the legislature.
The merger went ahead, and was officially announced in August 1997.
The only one of the original eight Sask Party MLAs not interview for the book was Ben Heppner, who passed away in 2006.
Krawetz said knew she would be accused of writing the book with a partisan slant, and never tried to hide her ties to the Sask party. She even included “Gail’s Reflections” in the book, which detail her connections to the party.
Among those interviewed for the book were Roy Romanow, former premier and NDP leader, as well as numerous political scientists and others from outside the party.
The book is self-published, since Krawetz wanted to maintain control over the project. Because she is new to publishing, she hired a number of qualified people to make sure the end product was the best it could be.
The book is just over 300 pages long. It’s available online at RiskRewardBook.ca and through Indigo. The Coles bookstore in Yorkton will have copies available. Krawetz said she can be contacted in person at 306-593-4923 regarding book sales. If it’s someone within Canora, she is willing to deliver the book in person.
