Colin Thatcher, the former Saskatchewan cabinet minister convicted for killing his wife, has been granted full parole by the National Parole Board.

"The National Parole Board concluded that he would not pose an undue risk to the community and as such a full parole release has been granted, to be effective immediately," parole board member Elaine Cherkewich told reporters after the ruling on Thursday.

It was unclear, however, whether Thatcher had yet left his halfway house, CTV Regina's Wayne Mantyka reported.

"We are trying to find out exactly where he is. He is free to leave the building but he doesn't have to. He does have to stay in this general vicinity and spend his nights at the halfway house for a couple more nights," Mantyka reported from Regina.

"It's a technicality -- he just has some paperwork to sign first and they are waiting for those papers to arrive."

Thatcher and the three-member panel conversed for about an hour before the decision was made.

Panel members asked Thatcher a range of questions about everything from how he has adjusted to life outside prison to how he is interacting with his grandchildren.

Thatcher told the panel that experienced some frustrating experiences on day parole.

He recounted getting irritated when he was forced to put down a $500 deposit for a cell phone.

He told the board that the threat of being sent back to prison helped him deal with such irritations frustrations.

When asked about what it was like for him to babysit his children, Thatcher said his respect for mothers "went up immensely."

At one point earlier this year he was granted an extended week-long absence to care for his son's nine-year-old twins.

The board also questioned Thatcher about his feelings toward women.

"I believe women have exactly the same rights as a man,'' he said.

"Whether I've practised that or not, I don't know, but I've always believed in that.''

In the end, Thatcher said prison helped him deal with issues of power and control that he may have had before he was incarcerated.

"I will never do anything to embarrass you or cause you to regret this decision,'' Thatcher told the board upon hearing the decision.

Thatcher told the parole board he just wants to live the rest of his life out on the family ranch near Moose Jaw, Sask., working as a "hired hand'' under his son Greg.

"(Thatcher) said 'I am not interested in running anything. I am not interested in any kind of control. I just want to be able to ride a horse. He said he rather enjoys the seclusion of rural life," Mantyka told Newsnet.

The panel ruled that Thatcher's parole would come with conditions.

He is still required to undergo counselling and report any romantic relationships to his parole officer.

But Thatcher said romance was unlikely to be a top priority, especially because he's seen other parolees sent back to prison over fights they had with their wives.

"I'd be pretty hesitant to give somebody that power over me again.''

In June, Thatcher was released to a Regina halfway house after having served 22 years in prison for the first-degree murder of his wife, JoAnn Wilson, in 1983.

Aside from his day parole status, Thatcher had also been allowed to take some overnight and weekend leaves.

The 68-year-old son of former Saskatchewan premier Ross Thatcher had been spotted riding horses and attending Saskatchewan Roughriders football games.

Thatcher has always maintained his innocence in the death of his wife, who was found badly beaten and shot in the head in the garage of her Regina home.

Normally, Thatcher would not have been eligible for parole for 25 years.

But in 2003, a jury at his second "faint hope" hearing granted him immediate eligibility.

Parole officials, however, denied his release until this year.

With a report from CTV Regina's Wayne Mantyka and files from The Canadian Press