Saskatchewan premier gets finger-lickin' good news on Weyburn KFC buffet

When it came time to defend the KFC buffet in Weyburn, Sask., the premier did not turn chicken.

Brad Wall went on Twitter Tuesday to lend support to a grassroots campaign to save the Kentucky Fried Chicken buffet in the southeastern Saskatchewan city.

Earlier reports said the popular chicken buffet was about to be shut down, but then came a nugget of news from Yum Canada, KFC'sparent company.

It said the all-you-can-eat Weyburn tradition would continue.

Leonard Free, director ofoperations and restaurant excellence for KFC Canada,released astatement on Tuesday afternoon:

"This afternoon, KFC learned that our buffet in Weyburn, Sask.,was closing. Like many people, we were surprised by this news. We can confirm the buffet is not closing.

"It is true, however, that KFC buffets have been closing around the world.While we cannot guarantee that the Weyburn buffet will remain open forever, we can guarantee that it will be open for now."

Before the statement was issued, Wall, who often takes to social media for light-hearted posts, urged his followers to fight the closure.

"The last KFC buffet in the world in Weyburn, SK is being shut down? RT and say NO," Wall wrote.

He wasnot the only member of the government who has jumped into the fried chicken fray.

Health Minister Dustin Duncan, who is the member of the legislature for Weyburn-Big Muddy, worked at the KFC outlet when he was a teenager.

He was scheduledto attend a "sit-in" Wednesday, the daywhen officials from Yum were expected tocome to Weyburn.

It was Duncan whom Wall joked about in 2012 when his goatee gavehim a similar look to Col. Sanders, the iconic symbol of the chicken chain.

"A striking resemblance," Wall said in a tweet.