Ronald (Ron) Osika (born February 27, 1939) is a Canadian former politician, who served 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 na ...

from 1995 to 2003. The son of Polish immigrants, he was born on a homestead near

Hafford Hafford is a town in the RM of Redberry, Saskatchewan, Canada, consisting of 414 residents at the 2021 Canadian census. It is located near Redberry Lake, which consists of only salt water. History The first overseer was T.G. Bavin for the ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

, and educated in

The Battlefords The Battlefords is the collective name given to the adjacent communities of the City of North Battleford and the Town of Battleford in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. As of the 2011 census, the two communities have a combined population of 18, ...

. A former officer in the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

, Osika's first foray into politics was an unsuccessful bid for a Reform Party nomination in 1992."Former Liberals in coalition government formally join Saskatchewan NDP", ''Canadian Press'', September 5, 2003 He was first elected from Melville as

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MLA in the Saskatchewan legislature in the 1995 provincial election that saw the Liberals go from a single seat to 11 to form the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

. Osika served as interim

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in November 1995 after Lynda Haverstock was forced to resign as leader by her caucus. He remained leader until November 1996 when

Jim Melenchuk James Williams Melenchuk (born June 24, 1953) is a Canadian former politician. He represented the electoral district of Saskatoon Northwest in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1999 to 2003. He was educated at the University of Re ...

was chosen as Haverstock's permanent replacement. The 1999 provincial election reduced

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. Early life Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Tekla and Michael Romanow, who were Ukrainian immigrants from O ...

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Dev ...

to a minority government while also reducing the Liberals to

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Veh ...

status with four MLAs. The Liberals agreed to enter into a coalition government and Osika became

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the presiding officer of the Saskatchewan Legislature. Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan * Thomas MacNutt 1906–1908 * William Charles Sutherland 1908–1912 *John Al ...

from 1999 until February 2001 when he joined Calvert's

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

as Municipal Affairs minister. In October 2001, the Liberal Party elected

David Karwacki David Karwacki (born May 30, 1965) is a Canadian politician, was Leader of the Saskatchewan Liberals between October 2001 and December 2007. Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Karwacki attended the University of Saskatchewan, graduatin ...

as its new leader. He ordered the Liberal MLAs to leave the coalition government but Osika and Melenchuk refused and became Independents signing a new coalition agreement with Calvert in late 2001. In early 2002, Osika became Government Relations Minister and at various times had additional responsibilities for aboriginal affairs,

SaskWater Saskatchewan Water Corporation, operating as SaskWater, is a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Saskatchewan and supplies water, wastewater and related services to municipalities, industries and farms. In turn, municipalities supply wat ...

, the

Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (or SLGA) is a Treasury Board crown corporation responsible for the distribution, control and regulation of alcoholic beverages, cannabis and most gambling in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Its ...

and the Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation. He ran for re-election as an NDP candidate in the 2003 provincial election but was defeated in the riding of

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 t ...

. Osika turned to municipal politics after his defeat and was mayor of

Fort Qu'Appelle Fort Qu'Appelle is a town in Canadian province of Saskatchewan located in the Qu'Appelle River valley north-east of Regina, between Echo and Mission Lakes of the Fishing Lakes. It is not to be confused with the once-significant nearby t ...

from 2005 to 2016 when he chose not to seek another term."Osika returns", ''Canadian Press'', April 28, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osika, Ron Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan Members of the Executive Council of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Liberal Party MLAs Living people Saskatchewan political party leaders Mayors of places in Saskatchewan People from Fort Qu'Appelle 1939 births Independent MLAs in Saskatchewan 21st-century Canadian politicians Leaders of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party