Sask. legislature replacing red carpet with green

Saskatchewan's legislative building is about to undergo a carpet makeover, with the worn-out red rug getting ripped out in favour of something green.

Green has traditionally been the carpet colour of choice inside parliamentary spaces, including the House of Commons in Ottawa.

However, the carpet in Saskatchewan's legislative chamber has been red for the past century. That is about to change, as the old carpet — with its wears and tears — will be replaced with green carpets.

"We're going to go with what the architects had originally designed for this building in 1911-1912, and that is a green carpet," Speaker Dan D'Autremont told CBC News during a tour of the building on Monday.

The green marble seen throughout the legislative building was intended to match a green carpet, but D'Autremont said red was preferred by the province's first premier.

"Walter Scott was the premier at the time. He liked red. And red, I believe, was the Liberal colours at the time," he said.

"In fact, Mr. [John] Nilson, the leader of the opposition here in Saskatchewan, agrees that that was the reason why we have our red chamber."

D'Autremont said MLAs from both the governing Saskatchewan Party and opposition NDP have agreed to install the new carpets as a way to celebrate the building's 100th birthday.

When asked if the new carpets will be Saskatchewan Party green or Saskatchewan Roughriders green, D'Autremont replied, "It's not going to be either of those … it's kind of a lighter green."

The new green carpeting will be installed sometime this summer, at a cost of about $60,000.