For those of you who keep up with the local Saskatchewan news I am sure you have heard all about the recent developments with Premier Brad Wall. On Tuesday the Premier made an unscripted comment stating that he has previously taken his 14 year old daughter out on Saskatchewan roads and gave her a driving lesson. This was immediately acted upon as the legal age that someone can receive a learners driver permit is 15. Within the same day this story was in several news papers and then on Wednesday the NDP raised the matter in the legislature starting the premier should offer an apology for breaking the law and then joking about it.
For curiosity sake I took a poll of my friends and family and asked most people when the first time they drove in Saskatchewan was. For those of us from Saskatchewan the majority of us had all driven a vehicle before we were 14 with permission from our parents or with them in the vehicle. I definitely believe that having a legal driving age is an important and yes what the premier did was wrong but is this small mistake which he has apologize for worthy of all of the media coverage. The fact that the NDP took time out of the legislature to bring this up and discuss it is frustrating. There are much bigger matters to discuss and things to decide on when running our province instead of bringing up something like this. I am definitely not alone on my thoughts on this as published in a recent article in the Star Phoenix; many Saskatchewan residents have offered private property to teach his daughter how to drive.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.