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Donald Grant Devine (born July 5 , 1944 ) was the Progressive Conservative Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from May 8 , 1982 to November 1 , 1991 . Born in Regina, Saskatchewan , a farmer, teacher and agricultural economist, Devine taught at the University Of Saskatchewan in the 1970s before entering politics. Although he was defeated during 1978 Election in a Saskatoon seat, he was elected leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative Party in 1979. He lost a 1980 by-election in Estevan in a three-way split in which each party received more than 32 percent of the vote. Devine won election to the Legislative Assembly Of Saskatchewan in the 1982 General Election that brought him and 54 other Progressive Conservatives to power. Only a rump of the long-ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) were left as opposition. Devine thus became the first Progressive Conservative premier of Saskatchewan and the first Conservative politician to hold the office since James T.M. Anderson formed a coalition government in 1929. Devine's government Privatized several Crown Corporation s, introduced Neo-liberal reforms to labour law and Welfare programs, and attempted to attract foreign investment. However, this approach was based on false assumptions that NDP policy chased away business, despite Blakeney's government favouring a mixed economy and encouraged private business. Devine instituted royalty holidays for new wells drilled from June 1st, 1982 to the end of 1983, as well at a 30 per cent tax reduction on older wells from 1974 on, and other tax breaks were offered to the industry. This was expected to cost the province $35 million, but lost revenue would be made up via increased exporation. Not even a declining world price of oil or a National Energy Program detered oil producers from drilling with these policies in place. However, one important reason for the growth in the industry was the drilling for natural gas, which had more to do an election promise to expand gas service to rural areas, instead of with the tax breaks offered. This turbocharged economic development also came with a price. Since oil is a finite resource, the government permanently gave up the ability to claim a larger share of the resource's value. Had royalites been preserved, development would have happened at a slower rate, but would have allowed the province to aquire more revenue via resource taxes. Devine governed during some of the worst droughts since the "dirty thirties". The price of oil fell from 19 to 9 dollars a barrel and the price of agricultural commodities collapsed. In the end, the high cost of government mortgage rate reduction policies during 19 per-cent interest rates and his agricultural rescue policies resulted in a large deficit. The year Devine came to government the provnical GDP only grew 0.6 per cent, down from 20.9 per cent growth the previous year . Since then Saskatchewan has had routinely less than 10 per cent growth in GDP. However, while supporters of the New Democratic Party contend that before the Tories came to power the province had a balanced budget (i.e., no public debt) under the previous NDP governments, the NDP's opponents have always contended that the governments of Allan Blakeney had hidden large debts in Saskatchewan's Crown corporations, which Devine wrote off into the province's general operating accounts. His government was re-elected in the 1986 Election , although his NDP opponents won a plurality of votes. Devine's government was defeated in the 1991 Election after two terms in power. The PC party was reduced to ten seats in the legislature. Although Devine himself was never caught in criminal wrongdoing, several members of his Caucus were sent to prison as the result of a kickback scandal that operated during Devine's second term from 1986-1991. Many former members and supporters now support the Saskatchewan Party . The current leader of the Saskatchewan Party, Brad Wall , was a junior assistant in a ministerial office in the Grant Devine government. Some PCs have carried on the party name, running enough candidates in each election to maintain status as a registered political party. In 2004, Devine announced his intention to return to politics and run for the federal Conservative Party Of Canada , but the party ruled he was an undesirable candidate, and denied him the right to seek a nomination. On May 7, Devine announced that he would run as an independent candidate in the 2004 Federal Election for the Riding of Souris—Moose Mountain . Consequently, Devine was expelled from the Conservative Party on June 8 by the executive council of the Conservative party. Despite the ruling by the executive council of the Conservative Party of Canada, Devine continued to enjoy the public support of Conservative Deputy leader Peter MacKay . The former Premier finished the election second to Conservative Ed Komarnicki . Devine received 8,399 votes (29.42% of the popular vote).
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