Daryl Harrison shifts to ministry of energy and resources as legislative secretary
September 5, 2023, 4:55 pm
Sierra D'Souza Butts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Daryl Harrison, MLA for Cannington, recently became the Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Resources, after formerly working as the legislative secretary responsible for value-added agriculture and livestock engagement to Saskatchewan’s ministry of agriculture.
Harrison’s change in department comes with Premier Scott Moe’s recent announcement for changes in the provincial cabinet, made on Aug. 29.
“I’m sad to be moved away from Ag, but I’m not that far away so I’ll still be able to be very close to that department,” said Harrison.
“This role, specifically in the Cannington constituency means oil and gas, but potash is next door in the Moosomin constituency and in Melville. I’m certainly excited about helium, lithium, and all of those up-and-coming sectors that are going to contribute a lot to the Saskatchewan economy.”
Harrison will be working closely with Minister of Energy and Resources Jim Reiter in his new role.
“Minister Reiter and I had a brief discussion yesterday, I will be fully involved in all of the energy and resource world from oil and gas, to potash, to uranium, to our forestry. I’m looking forward to digging deep into those industries. It’s a main building block of our provincial economy.”
Having experience from working in the ministry of agriculture will be useful for working in the energy and resources sector, said Harrison.
“Forestry is sort of new to my background, but certainly my background in the oil and gas sector holds very well for this portfolio,” he said.
“I look forward to getting the minister out in Cannnington, and basically the oil and gas world in southeast Saskatchewan.”
With balancing the responsibilities of being MLA and legislative secretary, Harrison explained how he manages both.
“A lot of the times being legislative secretary is consulting with the minister and his staff, and department officials, in any given sector,” Harrison said.
“It will involve forestry and all of our mining companies, our oil and gas drillers, our Saskatchewan headquartered oil and gas producers, as well as the bigger ones that are active in Saskatchewan.
“Helium and lithium are new to me as well, although lithium has been showing up in our gas and water analysis for years, it’s exciting to see where that goes. I’m looking forward to seeing it grow into a major contributor to Saskatchewan’s economy.”
Harrison shared his thoughts about the premier’s cabinet shuffle and overall changes to positions in the provincial cabinet.
“I think it’s all good. Anytime you have cabinet ministers that are indicating they’re not going to run in the next provincial election, that’s always a tip there’s a shuffle in the works,” said Harrison.
“I don’t think there was a surprise to anyone that there was a shuffle at this time.”
Harrison said he is excited to start his new role as Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Resources.
“I look forward to working with Minister Reiter and learning about the industries I’m not as familiar with, like potash, like uranium, forestry,” he said.
“I’m excited to get at it. It will be great learning about all of these sectors in the energy and resources world.”
