Moe reflects on election year, striving to stabilize support going into 2025

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe hopes to strike a more collaborative tone in 2025 – following an election which saw the Official Opposition gain considerable ground in the assembly.

Moe spoke to CTV News’ Morgan Campbell to discuss the year in politics – and what he hopes to accomplish as his government sets out into a new term.

“We're very thankful for that fifth term majority government and we also are very much of the realization that, yes, people did vote for the platform that we had put before them, which was largely affordability based, but they also voted for a degree of change,” Moe explained.

“We do have a responsibility now, over … the next four years of this term, to deliver on both of those fronts.”

The Saskatchewan Party retained a majority government. However, the party was pushed out of Regina entirely and lost all its holdings in Saskatoon – save for one seat.

The Saskatchewan NDP increased its caucus to 27 members – but failed to secure its position in places such as Prince Albert and Moose Jaw – which were essential in the opposition’s path to victory.

The election results have led some experts to comment on a growing urban/rural divide in the province.

It’s a point Moe disagrees with.

“We still do, thankfully, have representation of 15 of the 16 cities in the province – 10 of them are represented in the cabinet that we have,” he argued.

“There is an urban voice in the cabinet and in the governing caucus, and that Saskatchewan people can be reassured with that. However, there is some change that needs to happen with our government, with our party, to ensure that we are listening and reacting to Saskatchewan people, regardless of where they live.”

In the Speech from the Throne, the government’s pledge of affordability relief was reiterated and acted upon in a short fall sitting of the legislature – lasting less than three weeks.

The Saskatchewan Affordability Act and The SaskEnergy (Carbon Tax Fairness For Families) Amendment Act, 2024 were both passed with unanimous consent – while Moe eyes moving forward on several more accountability measures in the new year.

“One thing as we built our affordability campaign platform is we wanted it to have an impact on everyone,” he explained.

“We wanted to ensure that we had a comprehensive package that had an impact on as many people as possible in the province; was permanent and could be implemented so that it would not have to be retracted [later], relative to some temporary initiatives that we see at other levels of government and in other platforms.”

Possible Trade Dispute

On Nov. 25, President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods imported to the U.S. The issue has become priority one for all of Canada’s provincial leaders – including Moe.

“They're our largest trading partner. Fifty-five per cent of what we export goes into the U.S, but even as important as 80 per cent of what we import into our province comes from the U.S.,” he explained.

“Saskatchewan exports to over 160 countries around the world. The most paramount and important of those is the United States of America, because we work together to add value to those products to provide them to ourselves and to the world.”

Moe also shared his desire for an election to be held at the federal level – saying that the current Liberal minority government owes the country the opportunity to choose who they want at the bargaining table with the incoming Trump administration.

“A four-year mandate is normal for any government. We have a minority government that has gone beyond that four-year mandate,” Moe explained.

“With all due respect, four years is up, and it's time for Canadians to have a say in who's going to be the voice for them as we enter into a pretty significant discussion with our largest trading partner and ally, the United States of America.”

Since 2007, the Canada Elections Act has outlined a timeline for a general election to be held on a fixed date – the third Monday of the fourth calendar year following the previous vote.

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However, the act doesn’t prevent an election from being called earlier or later – as long as it is no later than five years after the previous election.

Regardless, Moe said his government is prepared to work with all others to deal with the threat U.S tariffs pose to the country as a whole.

“It's going to take an all-hands-on deck approach,” he said. “We'll be supportive of the federal government in their outreach. We'll work alongside other premiers through the Council of Federation table in our outreach, but we'll also work individually as a province of Saskatchewan, using the context and relationship we’ve built over the last number of years.”

Healthcare

In a year which saw emergency rooms busting at the seams in the province’s largest cities and closures affecting rural hospitals across Saskatchewan – Premier Moe committed to listening to those in the healthcare field to approach certain longstanding issues differently.

“We’ve been making investments and now I think we have to have conversations around how can we maybe do things differently and build on what is working and maybe replace what might not be working so well,” he explained.

“Case in point is the patient focused task force that we have put together with the nursing designations that offer services in communities and across the board in our health care space.”

Moe also pointed to the success of the Urgent Care Centre in Regina – and planned expansions into Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and North Battleford.

“If we heard anything throughout the campaign, it's we need to have better access to primary health care providers in our community and in our province. The urgent care centre is not the only step in solving and providing that care, but it's one of the steps,” he said.

Homelessness and Addictions

Moe outlined his government’s approach to increasing homelessness and the drug crisis – reiterating the province’s position on a recovery focused approach with added emphasis on drug enforcement.

“A primary focus is on providing those recovery supports for those that are reaching out and unfortunately may have entered a life of addictions and homelessness, and to provide them the opportunity to a recovery path and a recovery journey,” he explained.

“The second is to take away the very poison that has gotten them to where they are.”

Both of the province’s largest cities have seen dramatic increases to the homelessness population over the past decade.

Point in time counts in mid-December show 824 people experiencing homelessness in Regina while that figure has grown to 1,500 in Saskatoon.

Education

Among other things, 2024 could be called a tumultuous year in the realm of education in the province, with educators regularly striking in the spring months as the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and the Government Trustee Bargaining Committee struggled to make progress at the bargaining table.

Binding arbitration was eventually agreed to, and the two sides met for several days in mid December in Saskatoon to argue their respective cases.

A decision from that arbitration is expected in the new year.

Looking back at the drawn-out labour dispute with the province’s educators – Moe again reiterated his government’s intention to act more collaboratively moving forward.

“A different tone, and I would say, a different focus from the government when it comes to not only the conversation around education and all of those involved, but also a different commitment when it comes to the investment that we're going to provide,” he said.

“We set the foundation for that conversation in the Speech from the Throne since the election. And I think you'll see us follow that up with the investment as we find our way to the budget in the spring.”

The province has vowed to expand its specialized classroom support model from its eight-school pilot phase to 200 more schools across Saskatchewan – while also focusing on improving Grade 3 reading levels across the province.

“I feel that we need to do a more public, but also a better job in ensuring that we're working alongside, for example, our school divisions on developing policies that are supporting each and every child in each and every classroom, in every school, in every community across this province,” Moe added.

“That's what parents want. That's what teachers want. That's what school division representatives [want], and I think, in fairness, that's what elected members want as well.”