Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill's Business Dealings Since Being Elected...
... are pretty greasy. So obviously, he fits right into Scott Moe's cabinet.
In any democratic and transparent government, public officials must act with the utmost integrity and avoid any actions that may lead to a conflict of interest.
The Sask Party, as we know, is not a democratic government. I’m not even going to touch “transparent”.
The Sask Party is an authoritarian group desperate to cling to power, while its insiders and elitists continue to get very, very rich off the corruption permeating every corner of the Government of Saskatchewan and beyond.
In this context, let’s take a closer look at Jeremiah (his real name, though he goes by the more politically palatable “Jeremy”) Cockrill.
Jeremiah was promoted to Scott Moe’s cabinet last year, where he held a low profile as Minister of Highways & Infrastructure. Now he’s levelled up and holds our kids’ futures in his hands as Minister of Education.
Cockrill, apart from his newfound political career, has his fingers in a number of other pies.
Here’s an excerpt from his 2020 Conflict of Interest Statement, which was also his first Conflict of Interest Statement after being elected as the member for North Battleford in October 2020:
First, note the dates in the top right corner of the statement. Every year in Saskatchewan, elected MLAs file a “public disclosure statement” on whatever conflicts of interest they had… the year before. Most Saskatchewan voters would like to know in real time what is compromising an elected official’s ability to make unbiased decisions in the best interest of the public, but again… this is Saskatchewan.
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According to the Legislative Assembly website, the purpose of the Conflict of Interest Statement is to report on a MLA’s personal and family investments. This statement is prepared in conjunction with Saskatchewan’s toothless, useless Conflict of Interest Commissioner and released annually pursuant to The Members' Conflict of Interest Act.
What we’ve learned from Cockrill’s statement is that after he was elected, he sold hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of products to the Sask Party government.
We can take it a step further and go to the payee report for the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation and its local affiliates to find out how much was paid by the taxpayer for this privilege:
It didn’t end there, however.
In his 2021 statement, Jeremiah has changed his job description from “advisor” with Fortress to part time sales person and SaskTel is now a client:
I am unable to find any record of payment to Fortress Windows from either the Cut Knife Housing Authority or SaskTel. I suspect that is because the invoices were under $50,000, which means the Saskatchewan government doesn’t report them.
Yes, that’s shady AF, but there’s only so many issues I’m willing to care about anymore.
I also can’t find any record of the Government of Saskatchewan or any Crown Corporation doing business with Fortress Windows & Doors before their sales guy was elected as a Sask Party MLA.
Fortress Windows & Doors vanishes from Jeremiah’s Conflict of Interest Statement for 2022.
Did Jeremiah Cockrill favor his own business in government contracts, which is a direct violation of the principles of fairness and competition that underpin public procurement processes? He profited from a customer, the government, which he has influence over due to his political position.
Tell me why we shouldn’t believe that he leveraged his political role for personal financial gain? How would we know if decisions about public procurement were influenced by his personal financial interests?
We shouldn’t and we don’t, which is precisely why these transactions undermine public trust in the government. It is crucial for the functioning of any democracy that government officials maintain not just actual impartiality, but also the appearance of impartiality.
Now, Jeremiah Cockrill received his post-secondary degree from Trinity Western, a private Christian school that until just a few years ago, made its students sign a covenant stating they won’t have anything but married, heterosexual relations while they’re enrolled.
Yep. Saskatchewan’s new Minister of Education is an alumnus of a private Christian school, just like the ones he’s now responsible for - the ones facing intense scrutiny for abusive, potentially criminal behaviour towards children.
He also ended his first speech in the Legislature with the words “God bless Saskatchewan.”
So this all bodes really well for the future of K-12 education.
What really blows my mind, however, was not Jeremiah’s blatant business dealings with his own government - it’s how he’s manipulated his personal investments since becoming a cabinet minister.
Cockrill entered government with a weird portfolio.
As we know, Torc Oil & Gas became Whitecap Resources at the end of December 2020. It’s a fund managed by Sask Party insider Grant Kook. Former premier Brad Wall is a major shareholder and director. I’m starting to wonder if holding shares in Whitecap Resources, or just a Kook-managed company in general, is an actual prerequisite to becoming a minister in Scooter’s cabinet.
By 2021 not only is Cockrill financially benefiting from an investment controlled in part by Sask Party insiders, he added a number of resource-based funds to his portfolio.
Sprott Physical Uranium Trust didn’t even trade on the NYSE until 2021, but somehow our Minister of Education was right there to get in on the action. Sprott buys and holds uranium, a rather lucrative Saskatchewan resource, and is a direct competitor of Cameco’s. Also, as we know, Saskatchewan is as horny for nuclear energy as Scooter is for his next beer.
But I’m sure our Jeremiah just stumbled on Sprott as a personal investment all on his own. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the access to information he found himself privy to as a cabinet minister.
By 2022, Cockrill’s not even trying to pretend anymore. He’s added Royal Helium and Helium Evolution, new companies, both of which have operations solely focused in Saskatchewan, to his portfolio. He also invested in Clean Seed Capital Group, which was warmly welcomed to province by the Government of Saskatchewan in a news release in 2021.
Remember, these Conflict of Interest Statements cover the year prior, meaning Cockrill could have invested in Clean Seed Capital Group before that announcement was made.
If you’re thinking to yourself, “Wow, this seems greasy AF”… congratulations! You have a beating heart and two brain cells to rub together.
Because not only is it greasy, it’s blatantly corrupt. In every other province in Canada, this behaviour from an elected (and even some unelected) public official would be illegal.
Cockrill’s dealings are so bad and so obviously rooted in inside information, in fact, that this all should probably be reported to the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan.
You have every right to expect your elected representatives to act in the best interest of the people they serve, not in their own personal gain. We must strive for a government that is free from undue influence and focused solely on making decisions that benefit the greater good - because look around, you’re seeing in Saskatchewan exactly what happens when the opposite is the case.
Our new Minister of Education is as bad, or possibly worse, than Dustin Duncan. Jeremiah Cockrill is a religious zealot who got elected to enrich himself now and cash in on favors in the future. Like everyone else in Scott Moe’s cabinet, Cockrill will continue to destroy the public system he’s been tasked with upholding, because he’s demonstrably corrupt, as we’ve just established, and… he’s a liar.
Don’t believe me? According to this Murray Mandryk column, Cockrill told a massive lie to a group of reporters in his very first scrum as Minister of Education.
“Newly minted Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill went one step further when asked, saying that every MLA has received concerns from a constituency parent unaware of their child transitioning. However, the very next MLA reporters talked to — new Health Minister Everett Hindley — said that while he supports the government policy, no parent has ever raised this specific concern.” - Regina Leader Post, August 30, 2023
That’s fucking shocking.
Absolutely appalling behaviour from an elected official.
So why did we learn about it buried in an opinion column, instead of local media calling it out and running with it?
It’s Saskatchewan… so who knows.
I’m doing what I can and like I keep telling myself… that’s all I can do.
Have a great week,
While subscriptions continue to grow, the only way I am currently able to continue doing this work, which is incredibly labour-intensive, has been through your private donations. If you’d like to further support my work, I accept e-transferred donations, gratefully, at tammyrobert0123@gmail.com