Sask. Party MLA denies turning public dollars into private profit

(Ken Cheveldayoff photo source: Mark Taylor / Canadian Press; Office photo: Hallee Mandryk / CTV News)

The address of 1101A Central Avenue in Saskatoon has become a hot topic inside the Saskatchewan Legislature.

It’s been the location of Minister of Advanced Education, Ken Cheveldayoff’s taxpayer funded campaign office since 2010. For many years, it was also home to Elke Churchman’s law office.

“A lawyer approached me about sharing the office, I contacted the [legislative] assembly. I said we were going to split things 50/50. It’s going to be a split lease,” Cheveldayoff said.

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“And later on, they said that sublease weren’t allowed. I said, well, mine’s not really a sublease. They aren’t subletting from me, they’re splitting it....They were paying 50 per cent of everything. The rent, the lights, the heat, the photocopier, everything.”

According to public records, Churchman donated a total of $1,250 to the Saskatchewan Party across 2020 and 2022.

At the time the two men entered into their “split lease,” there were no rules against subletting or renting out constituency offices.

However, as of 2016, the Board of Internal Economy added a stipulation to legislative rules prohibiting such arrangements.

A recent CBC article alleges that Cheveldayoff’s office was subletting their space to the law firm between 2017 and 2024. This prompted criticism from the NDP.

As party leader, Carla Beck spoke to media ahead of session on Monday.

“Documents obtained by the CBC indicate that Cheveldayoff...was warned multiple times, that he was indeed in breach of the rules, but continued nonetheless. Bottom line is this, Saskatchewan people expect their elected officials not only to have rules, but to follow those rules,” Beck said.

Cheveldayoff claimed that this allegation is not accurate. The Minister told CTV that following the advice of the speaker, his office became the sole occupant of 1101A Central avenue.

“I took it to the current speaker and he said, ‘why don’t you just get a new lease?’ So I got a new lease and I’m in compliance with the new speaker, and everything’s good,” Cheveldayoff said.

According to the Churchman & Co. law office website, the practice stopped operations in November of 2024. This decision came after the death of Elke Churchman in June of 2024, who was 72 at the time of her passing.

Cheveldayoff said he plans to find a new location for his office in the near future. Without another tenant, he says the building is too large for his needs.

“Every month, half of the bills were paid by myself and half by the other party. And again, every month I thought that it was a good deal for taxpayers. All of our MLA expenses are online,” Cheveldayoff said.