Grant Jacob Schmidt (born July 21, 1948) is a former political figure in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. He represented Melville from 1982 to 1991 in the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan () is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, in the ...

as a Progressive Conservative. He was born in

Balcarres, Saskatchewan Balcarres ( ); Canada 2006 Census, 2006 population 598) is a town located in southern Saskatchewan, Canada along Saskatchewan Highway 10, Highway 10 and Saskatchewan Highway 22, Highway 22, approximately northeast of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regi ...

, the son of George Schmidt and Helen Banerd, and received a law degree from the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. Schmidt articled in Melville and practised law there. In 1971, he married Sheron Steyck. Schmidt served in the Saskatchewan cabinet as Minister of Labour, as Minister of Social Services, as Minister of Human Resources, Labour & Employment, as Minister of Consumer and Commercial Affairs, as Minister of Economic Diversification and Trade, as Minister of Justice and Attorney General and as Provincial Secretary. He was defeated by Evan Carlson when he ran for reelection to the assembly in 1991. The PC Party subsequently went dormant in the wake of revelations of fraud committed by several PC MLA's and caucus workers. Like many former PC members, Schmidt joined the

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party (SP or Sask Party) is a conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative ...

. Although Schmidt himself was never implicated in any wrongdoing, he was nevertheless barred from securing the

nomination in the

Melville-Saltcoats Melville-Saltcoats is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. Located in southeastern Saskatchewan, this constituency was created through the ''Representation Act, 1994'' (Saskatchewan) by combining ...

provincial riding and ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate in the 2003 election. Schmidt subsequently rejoined the Progressive Conservatives after the party was revived by his former cabinet colleague

Rick Swenson Rick Swenson, sometimes known as the "King of the Iditarod", (born 1950 in Willmar, Minnesota), is an American dog musher who was first to win the 1,049-mile (1688.2 km) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska five times, a ...

. He was eventually named President of the PC Party. Schmidt's son Kurt Schmidt ran as a PC candidate in the 2016 general election. His brother is Canadian-German curler

Rodger Schmidt Rodger Gustaf Schmidt (born 20 June 1952) is a former Canadian–German Curling, curler and curling coach (sport), coach. Schmidt was born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan and moved to Duff, Saskatchewan in his youth. He is a descendant of German immigr ...

References

1948 births Living people Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan MLAs Attorneys general of Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan alumni Canadian people of German descent 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan {{ProgressiveConservative-Saskatchewan-MLA-stub