REGINA - It was a day of heartfelt tributes in the Legislature on Wednesday as members of the Assembly bade farewell to their colleague Derek Meyers.
The ordinary business was cancelled for the day and the afternoon was turned over to statements of condolence for the MLA for Regina Walsh Acres. MLAs stood and paid tribute to Meyers, relating their stories about Meyers’ positivity, his love of family, and commitment to his community and issues of mental health which he championed.
Members of Meyers’ family including his partner Laurie were seated in the gallery as MLAs rose to pay their respects. What follows are a sample of some of the statements in the Legislature, as recorded in Hansard.
Premier Scott Moe
Well, Mr. Speaker, when we lose a family member, when we lose a close and dear friend, we feel deep sorrow. And when that loss is compounded by the realization that our friend is just beginning to hit his stride in life, that sadness is, it’s almost impossible to describe.
And this is where we find ourselves today as we mourn the passing of a good friend, the member for Regina Walsh Acres, the man from Midale, Saskatchewan, our friend, Derek Meyers…
Derek had the enthusiasm and the sparkle of an eternal optimist. And any that met him knew he was just that — an eternal optimist. He saw the bright side in any situation, and he certainly saw the bright side in Saskatchewan.
… Mr. Speaker, like all of us, Derek faced challenges in his life. There were dark times for Derek. As we know, Derek’s daughter Teigha suffered with mental illness, and she struggled with depression and anxiety for a number of years. As we know, just prior to the 2020 election campaign, Teigha took her life. She was 17 years old. That was devastating for Derek and it was devastating for the family, and somehow, somehow Derek persevered. I don’t know how.
He campaigned hard right through that election and he won Regina Walsh Acres, not only for himself — least of all for himself — but he won it for his daughter Teigha, he won it for his family, and he won it for his team, the Saskatchewan Party.
He said later that an important motivator was his desire to extract something redeeming from the passing of his daughter. Derek figured that the best way that he would be able to help kids who were dealing with the same struggles that Teigha went through was for him to take his seat in this Assembly. He said, and again I quote my friend, then I could be one of the voices in government for those people who are struggling with mental illness. Only Derek, through what was such a personal tragic time, could be looking to extract and aspire some positive impact out of that. It’s a lesson for each of us here.
Carla Beck
Now as the Premier described, Derek was a larger-than-life character. He had a voice that cut through the loudest of debates in this legislature. I recall my colleague from Rosemont sometimes making note of how well his voice travelled across this Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, when we leave this Chamber, when we leave this world, I think the most that any of us can hope for is that we leave something behind, something better — memories for our loved ones. And that certainly is the case with Derek. One of those things I will remember is that booming sportscaster voice and a lot of laughter, excitement, that energy that the Premier spoke about.
… In his maiden speech — and I’m going to borrow some of the same quote that the Premier used — he described, these are days for neither the faint of heart nor for petty squabbles amongst ourselves. And I think that is a very fitting quote for today.
There will be days, there will be time for debate very soon. And that’s as it should be, Mr. Speaker, because what we do here, what we talk about, the decisions made here, they matter to the people of this province. And Derek knew that. That debate is important.
But there can be no debate about this: Derek was treasured. He is gone too soon. He showed us that life can be filled with joy and enthusiasm. He will be missed but his memory will live on in the records of this House, in his work in the community, in the memories of his colleagues and his loved ones, for all those who knew him best, and his family.
Donna Harpauer
I was not a close personal friend with Derek outside of work. Frankly I don’t drink beer; I hate it. I know nothing about sports as the member from Rosetown would say. And so, you know, the guys wouldn’t say, hey, Donna, let’s go out and talk about sports. But as you will hear too, you know, we’re a family, and as a family we become friends in that context.
And Derek loved being on our team. Doesn’t matter what position he was given, he threw everything into it with enthusiasm, with his energy, with his optimism, with his heart. He put everything behind whatever job he had on the team. He loved the job, he loved the people, he loved the politics.
… It’s not long enough. Time was not long enough. My heart goes out to Laurie. It’s not long enough but, Mr. Speaker, how blessed are we. How blessed are we we knew him, because it’s not long enough. For me it was only three years. Rest in peace, our friend.
Trent Wotherspoon
I got to know Derek over the years long before he served in this Assembly. He was a prominent sportscaster, a heck of a fun guy, a real character — gregarious, funny — wonderful to trade stories with, often emceeing events and community activities that were raising dollars for good causes.
We got to tease each other over the years about the choice of our respective teams: the Edmonton Oilers, the Boston Bruins, the Sask Party and the NDP [New Democratic Party]. And I’d tell him, I’d tease him and say, oh boy — once I found out that he was kind of hitching his wagon to these guys — I’d say, oh boy, you know, bad mistake. Come work with us, Derek. And he’d bug me and tell me that I was the one that was offside and should be over there. Looks like maybe he chose the winning team in the last election, Mr. Speaker.
He was funny as heck. And even as adversaries in the political fray, which matters, there’s always a relationship and humanity.
Everett Hindley
Derek, my man, where to begin? So many of our conversations or text messages ended with “Hey, man. How’s it going, my man?” And I think of that to this day.
I didn’t have the opportunity to know Derek as long as some people have here in this city, in this province. But, Mr. Speaker, it felt like I knew him for a lifetime. He was just one of those people with so much charisma, as we’ve heard today from the stories that have been told by the members here in the House. It is just amazing…
… And he would just check in. And I think he did it with all of us, especially on this side of the House, you know, just completely out of the blue. “How the heck are you? Barely seen you.” I’d been busy with pandemic stuff and all these other things going on. I said, hanging in there; things are going well. He says, “Good man. Just wanted you to know I’m proud to serve alongside you.” Like who does that but Derek Meyers, right?
Completely random text out of the blue: Patrick Marleau retiring today. I said, yeah, I heard that. You know, old sports guys going to chat about those sorts of things. And in that text message I said, “You know what? I wonder if you could help me out. I’m trying to find some soccer gear for my grandson. He’s four and he can’t find equipment anywhere.” And of course just like that he said, try this place, try that place; they’re likely your best bets. And then after that he said, “LOL [laughing out loud], let me know how it goes. I may have some gently used stuff if you’re in a jam.” And that, Mr. Speaker, that was Derek. Always looking out for everyone else. It was never about him.
And you know, in this role that I’m fortunate to serve in right now, we had some very, very good heart-to-heart conversations about mental health and his passion for it, his involvement with the Canadian Mental Health Association. Some of the folks here in Regina, he had introduced me to. He was so passionate about it, so very passionate about it. And we’ve still got some work to do, my friend, and we’re going to get that work done.
I said to him, I said, “You know what? When my turn is done in this role, I know who I’d pick. I have a pretty good idea who’d be good to fill these shoes as the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.” And he was always such a good friend and a great person and, again, just so very fortunate in my very brief time to have known him and to work alongside him.
So thankful to his family. Thank you for everything that you have done to share Derek with us. May God grant you strength and courage. And as Derek said to me in that one text, I now say back to him one final time: I’m proud to serve alongside you.
Don McMorris
You know, just the one story quickly. I was texting with him, and he was in the hospital after he got back from the trip from Mexico. You know, how are you doing? Great, I think I’ll be out on Thursday. And I said, oh, that’s so great. And I’ll see you at the Evening in Greece on Saturday. Came out of the hospital on Thursday, and he was at the Evening in Greece on Saturday and mingling and talking to people. Like, what a commitment he had to this party, to this province, but to the betterment for all of us.
I replied to I think it was either a budget or a Speech from the Throne a year or so ago, and the order happened to be Derek speaking and then the member from Regina Rosemont and then myself. And the member from Regina Rosemont kind of went after Derek a little bit, and I thought it was my place to defend, try to defend. And it’s funny because I talked to him after, and you know, he was, oh, good speech. And I said, what did you think of the numbers? You know, the Government Relations revenue sharing is up. Isn’t that wonderful? He said, no, I don’t care about any of that. I loved the way you went after the NDP like that.
And so, I just think it’s only fitting. I don’t want to do this, and this is different than any other tribute that we’ve seen . . .
But you know, the opposition, Mr. Speaker, has the nerve to call us tired and out of touch. Can you believe that? Mr. Speaker, have they looked in the mirror lately? It doesn’t need to be a very big mirror. It can be a very small mirror. Mr. Speaker, we have 13 first-term MLAs. They elected 12. Who’s out of touch?
I might be old or tired and out of touch, but the one member that wasn’t was Derek Meyers. He loved this position, and nobody was more in touch with his community. From our family to yours, God bless.
