Inaugural Saskatchewan Party premier Brad Wall is one of ten individuals announced Thursday to receive the province's highest honour, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty announced the pending recipients. They will be invested with the order at a formal ceremony in Regina on June 19, 2024. "I am grateful to the newest recipients of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit for making profoundly positive impacts in our communities,” Mirasty said.“By generously giving of their time, talents and resources, they have significantly contributed to the betterment of our province."The 2024 Saskatchewan Order of Merit recipients are: Tribal Chief Mark Arcand, SaskatoonBrynn Boback-Lane, SaskatoonFloyd Favel, PayntonDr. Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, ReginaRenu Kapoor, S.V.M., ReginaCurtis Kleisinger, ReginaBrad Wall, Cypress HillsColonel (Ret'd) Malcolm Young C.D., SaskatoonGreg Yuel, SaskatoonOlivia Yuel, SaskatoonThe Saskatchewan Order of Merit was established in 1985 to celebrate excellence and achievements by Saskatchewan citizens.To date, 266 individuals have been invested with the Order in recognition of their significant contributions in areas such as agriculture, business, industry, community leadership, public service, art, research and volunteering.The Saskatchewan Order of Merit is recognized in the Canadian Honours System and members of the Order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters S.O.M.Wall was the fourth longest-tenured premier in the province's history. He was first elected to as MLA for Swift Current in 1999 and he was re-elected four times, in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2016. He became leader of the Official Opposition Saskatchewan Party on July 15, 2004, replacing Elwin Hermanson, and he led the party to a majority government in the 2007 election. In the 2011 election, Wall's government won the largest vote share in Saskatchewan's history with 64% of the popular vote and 49 of the 58 ridings. The 2016 election delivered Wall another majority, marking the first time since 1925 that a party other than the New Democratic Party or its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, had won three consecutive majority mandates.
