Documents reveal second hotel financially associated with Sask. Party in the Sunrise Scandal

REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for Ethics and Democracy Meara Conway responded to the newly released documents by the Ministry of Social Services that show MLA Gary Grewal is financially connected to a second hotel with over-inflated nightly prices despite the Minister claiming no other conflicts exist.

“I think the people of Saskatchewan deserve answers on why two out of the three hotels the Ministry of Social Services uses in Regina are financially linked to a Sask. Party MLA,” said Conway. “Minister Makowsky said this government only uses three hotels in Regina. They’ve been sitting on these records for months. At this point, they’re clearly trying to cover up another scandal.”

Last Friday, when asked outright if any other hotels used by the Ministry of Social Services were financially linked to any government MLA, Minister Makowsky feigned ignorance:

Reporter: Do you know if any of the other hotels that are used by the government have any MLAs or their spouses with any ownership stakes or is this the only one you’re aware of?

Makowsky: Only one I’m aware of.

The very same disclosure form which disclosed MLA Gary Grewal’s ownership of the Sunrise Motel, also reveals that he is an investor who receives income from the Thriftlodge Hotel on Albert Street in Regina. The newly released documents from the Ministry of Social Services lists the Thriftlodge in Regina as one of the three clients they work with. Both hotels associated with MLA Grewal vastly inflate their room rates when taking on taxpayer-funded clients.

Hotel/Motel	Online Rate*	Ministry Paid on Average	Inflation %
Thriftlodge Regina**	$90/night	$185/night	+105.6%
Sunrise Motel**	$99/night	$162/night	+63.6%
Coachman Inn Motel	$94/night	$128/night	+36.2%
Refresh Inn and Suites	$143/night	$149/night	+4.2%
Saskatoon Inn and Conference Centre	$165/night	$140/night	-15.2%
Park Town Hotel	$188/night	$144/night	-23.4%
Based on booking for 1 night on February 13, 2024 *Hotels/Motels associated with MLA Gary Grewal (Rates include taxes + fees)

Ministry of Social Services documents show that usage and spending at The Sunrise Motel increased substantially during MLA Gary Grewal’s time as an MLA, increasing from $282 in 2018/2019 to $220,474 in 2022/2023.

The documents released by the Ministry of Social Services also revealed that Minister Makowsky misled the public when he claimed that hotel spending was going down when in fact it has steadily increased every single year, increasing from $2,715,795 to $3,076,235 this last year.

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