Although he was defeated during 1978 election in a Saskatoon seat, he was elected leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative Party in 1979. He lost a 1980 by-election in Estevan in a three-way split in which each party received more than 27 percent of the vote.
Premier of Saskatchewan, 1982 to 1991
Devine won election to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 1982 general election that brought him and 54 other Progressive Conservatives to power—the first time that the party had won government in its own right. Only nine members of the long-ruling New Democratic Party were left as opposition in what is still the third-worst defeat a sitting government has ever suffered in Saskatchewan. Devine became only the second Tory to serve as premier; the first, James T.M. Anderson, formed a coalition government in 1929. Devine's government divested several state-owned enterprises, made initial public offerings of others, and introduced reforms to labour law and welfare programs. Devine instituted royalty holidays for new wells drilled from June 1, 1982, to the end of 1983, as well as a 30 per cent tax reduction on older wells from 1974 on, and other tax breaks were offered to the industry. This was expected to cost the province $35 million, but lost revenue would be made up via increased exploration. Under Devine's premiership, Saskatchewan's debt grew from $3.5 billion to $12 billion. Devine governed during some of the worst droughts since the "Dirty Thirties". The price of oil and agricultural commodities collapsed. In the end, the high cost of government mortgage rate reduction policies during 19 per-cent interest rates and his agricultural rescue policies resulted in a large deficit. The year Devine came to government the provincial GDP only grew 0.6 per cent, down from 20.9 per cent growth the previous year. Since then Saskatchewan has had routinely less than 10 per cent growth in GDP. His government was re-elected in the 1986 election, making him the first conservative premier to win reelection in the province, although his NDP opponents won a plurality of the votes.
1991 Defeat and Opposition leader
Devine's government was defeated in the 1991 election after two terms in power. The PC party was reduced to ten seats in the legislature. On October 8, 1992, Devine announced his resignation as Progressive Conservative leader, effective December 31, 1992. Although Devine himself was never implicated in any criminal wrongdoing, 13 out of 55 Conservative MLAs and staffers were subsequently charged with expense account fraud committed during Devine's second term. The scheme accounted for $837,000 of defrauded government funds. Of these a handful were acquitted while some served prison time.
Federal politics
In 2004, Devine announced his intention to return to politics and run for the federal Conservative Party of Canada, but the party ruled he was an undesirable candidate, and denied him the right to seek a nomination. Despite the ruling, Devine continued to enjoy the public support of Conservative deputy leader Peter MacKay. On May 7, Devine announced that he would run as an independent candidate in the 2004 federal election for the riding of Souris—Moose Mountain. Consequently, Devine was expelled from the Conservative Party on June 8 by the party's executive council. Devine finished the election second to Conservative Ed Komarnicki. Devine received 8,399 votes.
