Former Saskatchewan cabinet minister pleads guilty to two environmental charges

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KINDERSLEY, Sask. — A former Saskatchewan cabinet minister has pleaded guilty to two charges related to environmental violations on Crown farmland near Eston, Sask., and on the shoreline of the South Saskatchewan River.

Former MLA Bill Boyd was in a Kindersley provincial court this week to face three counts under the Environmental Management and Protection Act and one count under the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act.

He pleaded guilty to two of the charges, and the other two charges were dropped.

Boyd will be fined $5,000 for the first charge, which involved the cultivation of some protected land, but the Crown and defence couldn’t agree on a fine for the second — more serious — charge of modifying a riverbank without a proper permit.

The judge in the case has reserved his decision on sentencing, including the second fine, until April 17.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he believed Boyd was treated the same way any other person would have been under the circumstances.

Boyd was kicked out of the Saskatchewan Party in August 2017 by former premier Brad Wall after the conflict-of-interest commissioner said he tried to influence potential investors while he was on a trip to China.

Prior to that, he was also in the middle of a controversy over a land deal outside Regina. Wall stood by Boyd who took heat over allegations that the land was sold to a Crown corporation for inflated prices, costing taxpayers millions.

Boyd was first elected in 1991 as a Progressive Conservative, but left to help form the Saskatchewan Party in 1997.

He served as a cabinet minister from 2007 to 2016 and held various portfolios including energy and resources, immigration and economy. He was also instrumental in running the Sask. Party’s election campaigns.

Boyd announced his retirement in August 2017.

(CTV Regina, The Canadian Press)