Premier Brad Wall, who addressed delegates at the Saskatchewan Party convention on the weekend, said he liked the resolution about lowering the minimum working age. (Stefani Langenegger/CBC)

Members of the Saskatchewan Party want the minimum working age in hotels and restaurants lowered to 15 from 16.

That was one of the resolutions coming out of the party's annual convention in Saskatoon on the weekend, the first gathering of its kind since the Saskatchewan Party won the election last fall.

The current labour laws require employees to be 16 in order to work in restaurants, hotels and hospitals.

However, 15-year-olds can work in some places — gas stations, for instance. Earlier this year, after a number of 15-year-olds were sent home from fast food outlets in Regina, Premier Brad Wall said that difference didn't make sense.

On the weekend, Wall said the proposed solution brings some common sense to the situation.

The resolution would see the minimum working age lowered to 15 and allow 14-year-olds to work up to 30 hours a week with their parents' permission.

"There are some common sense changes I think we can make, as long as there's parental consent, for young people to be more engaged in the workforce and we limit the number of hours," he said. "I mean, no final decision about when yet, but I like this resolution."

However, school must remain the most important priority for teenagers, Wall said. Toward that end, the party also passed a resolution aimed at keeping high school graduation rates high during the current labour shortage.

The gathering, which ended Sunday, attracted some 500 delegates, making it the party's biggest convention ever.