Dick Collver

Dick Collver MLA
Leader of the Opposition
In office 1978–1979
Preceded by	Ted Malone
Succeeded by	Eric Berntson
MLA for Nipawin
In office 1975 – 1982
Preceded by	John Comer
Succeeded by	Lloyd Sauder
Personal details
Born	February 13, 1936 ( 1936-02-13) (age 75) Toronto
Political party	Progressive Conservative, Unionest Party
Profession	Accountant

Richard Lee "Dick" Collver^[1] (born in Toronto on February 13, 1936) led the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party from 1973 to 1978.

Having earned an arts degree in economics from the University of Alberta, he articled as an accountant for Price Waterhouse in Calgary before moving to Saskatchewan in 1965. He was defeated in a run for the Saskatoon mayoralty, but nonetheless attracted the attention of the then-moribund Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative party, and gained its leadership in 1973. The party under Collver began its road to revitalization, and won seven seats with over 28% of the vote in the 1975 election. They became the official opposition after winning two by-elections and convincing two Liberal MLAs, including Colin Thatcher, to defect to the PCs.

Though Collver's Tories won 38% of the vote and 17 MLAs in the 1978 election, Collver was disappointed with the result, feeling convinced he was going to win the election. He resigned the leadership, and went on to form the Unionest Party in 1980, which advocated the joining of Saskatchewan and other western provinces to the United States. The party eventually folded, and Collver retired to a ranch he purchased in Wickenberg, Arizona.

Collver briefly returned to Saskatchewan in 1984, to testify against Colin Thatcher in the trial that convicted him of the murder of his ex-wife Joanne Wilson. Collver alleged that Thatcher, in a visit to Collver's ranch in Arizona, approached him for help in the search for a hit-man to kill Wilson.

External links

• Dick Collver's biography in the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
• Supreme Court of Canada Decisions, R. v. Thatcher
• Crimer Library description of Colin Thatcher's murder case
• Saskatchewan Archives Board - Saskatchewan Election Results By Electoral Division

References

1. ^ SaskArchives, p. 2-14.62

Persondata
Name	Collver, Richard Lee
Alternative names	Dick
Short description	Leader of the first western separatist party to sit in the Saskatchewan Legislature
Date of birth	February 13, 1936
Place of birth	Toronto
Date of death
Place of death	Wickenberg, Arizona?