Sask. premier looks back on tumultuous year with Ottawa, feels province fared well in 2023

Following a year of uncertainty around the world – Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe believes his province has fared better than most in 2023 – pointing to efforts in making energy affordable and legislative endeavours such as the Parents’ Bill of Rights.

Moe spoke to CTV News’ Lee Jones in a 20-minute year in review special that will be broadcast Dec. 27 at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on CTV News Regina and Saskatoon. A preview of that interview can be viewed using the video player at the top of this story.

FIGHTS WITH THE FEDS

The year 2023 was marked by numerous jurisdiction battles between Saskatchewan and the federal government – mostly concerning environmental regulations.

“You have five regulations that they have come forward with, carbon taxation, clean fuel standard, clean electricity standard, and then just as the COP[28] week came on, we had a methane cap and a cap and trade,” Moe explained. ”There's no other oil industry in the world that has those types of regulatory burdens put on them.”

The difference of opinions elevated during the latter half of the year, with the Government of Saskatchewan introducing legislation to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas used for home heating – following a federal exemption on home heating oil.

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“We made the very same decision that the federal government did. We asked them to do the right thing and treat all Canadian families equally,” Moe said.

Saskatchewan later expanded its refusal to collect the tax to include electric heat.

“This is a place where we'll have a disagreement with the federal government and with respect to each of those regulatory processes,” Moe said. “It's unfortunate that we're going to see many of the federal government's initiatives land in court. Many of them are going to be on who has the constitutional jurisdiction to do what they intend to do.”

PRONOUN POLICY

One of the most contentious issues on the floor of the Saskatchewan Legislature this year was the province’s pronoun policy that eventually became law.

The Parents’ Bill of Rights requires parents or guardians to be notified and provide permission if a student under 16 years old asks to use a different pronoun or name in school. It also bans third-party sex education groups from classrooms and requires schools to fly Saskatchewan’s official provincial flag.

The Saskatchewan NDP opposed the passage of the bill and has alleged it was in direct response to the Saskatchewan United Party’s second-place showing in the Lumsden-Morse byelection.

Moe claims the decision leading up to the bill’s passage was “less about politics and more about policy.”

“That has largely been the status quo in our classrooms across this province and by policy in many of the divisions for the entirety of history really,” he said. “What we saw was a veering away from that by one school division and so we saw a government that standardized the policy as that status quo policy across school divisions.”

Moe claimed that the policy was in line with what members of his government were hearing from parents across the province.

“[The] reason being is what our MLAs had been hearing from parents across this province through their constituency offices and the outreach that they were partaking in,” he said.

While outlining the reasoning for the policy, Moe did highlight that the act outlines protocols that focus on building supports around any child who may be at risk.

“If that child is actually in danger for any reason, there's also protocols that are in place to protect that child through our schools and those also could be enacted if they should need to be,” he explained.

“What this policy was focused on was providing parents that right to be involved in their child's education. But understanding that in even today, with or without that policy, there are children that need to be supported in different ways and those protocols are in place in our schools as well.”

NEEDED ACTION ON HEALTHCARE

Health care was a hot topic in 2023. With wait times, critical care bypasses, EMS availability and overcrowding acting as just some of the debates over the current state of Saskatchewan’s health system.

Saskatchewan is not alone in its struggles as healthcare providers across Canada are currently facing a shortage of personnel.

Moe defended his government’s response in terms of dollars invested and plans made – but admitted that much more has to be done – and at a faster pace.

“We've discussed many times, we have one of the most ambitious Health Human Resource Recruitment and Retention plans in the nation. But as we continue to find outcomes and results in the healthcare system, that isn't happening fast enough,” he said.

"We hired 800 new nursing grads, 500 nursing grads coming in from international destinations. But it isn't happening fast enough to regain all of the services that we have.”

It’s the current capacity issues that have led the province to send patients out of the province for procedures such as knee and hip surgeries and mammograms.

“Where we can reduce wait times in purchasing some private services in other provinces. Does it cost more? Is the investment higher? Yes. Does it get Saskatchewan residents the care and the diagnostics that they need sooner? Yes,” Moe said.

“We're going to do that because at the end of the day, what we're focused on is building our public health care service in the province. But [also] getting those folks that need that service today – the service that they need as quickly as possible.”

Saskatchewan closes out 2023 while dealing with intense emergency room overcrowding in both Regina and Saskatoon.

During his interview, Moe also spoke about the province projecting a deficit due to drought, Saskatchewan’s appearance at COP28, and the ongoing contract dispute with teachers.

As for what to expect in 2024, a provincial election must be held in Saskatchewan on or before Oct. 28.

Moe’s full interview can be heard on CTV News Regina and Saskatoon at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 27.