The Saskatchewan Party has won a majority government for the fifth consecutive time in the provincial election on Oct. 28, with leader Scott Moe remaining as premier.
The last party to win five consecutive times in the province was the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (now known as the NDP) of Tommy Douglas in 1960.
Monday’s election, however, did see the Opposition NDP effectively double its seat count, and some Saskatchewan Party cabinet ministers lost their seats.
“In a very challenging time for incumbent majority parties across Canada and around the world, it’s not lost on me, or it is not lost on your Saskatchewan Party team, that you have provided us with the honour to form a government in this great province for a fifth consecutive time,” Moe said in his victory speech.
He acknowledged that his party lost support compared to the 2020 election, and said he has heard the “message” that this sends. He pledged that his government will work hard to earn back the trust of those who voted against the Sask. Party.
Moe dismissed any suggestion that the province is divided, seemingly referring to the fact that the NDP won the urban ridings, while his party had more support in rural areas.
“I know regardless of who you voted for in this election, you did so because you wanted what was best for the province that we know, love, and live in, and in this I would say each of us is united,” he said.
Moe also thanked NDP Leader Carla Beck for running a “strong campaign.”
At dissolution, the governing Saskatchewan Party had 42 seats, while the NDP had 14. There was also one Saskatchewan United MLA, three Independents, and one seat was vacant.
Both Moe and Beck won in their own ridings.
The Saskatchewan Party first won in the province in 2007 under the leadership of Brad Wall against the previously governing NDP. Wall retired in 2018, and Moe, a former cabinet minister, took over as party leader and premier.
In her post-election speech, Beck congratulated Moe and his party, and said her party will be holding the government to account.
“When we started this campaign, many people didn’t give us much of a chance, but we believed,” she said.
“We might not have crossed the finish line tonight, but my friends, we have changed the landscape.”
Party Platforms
Moe pledged his government would deliver broad tax relief while continuing to withhold federal carbon pricing payments to Ottawa. He said he would raise the basic personal income tax exemption, as well as spousal and child exemptions, each by $500 each year in addition to the indexation increases, estimating it would save a family of four approximately $3,400 and a senior couple $3,100 over the next four years.The Sask. Party leader also discussed the issue of school change rooms during his campaign. Moe has said his first order of business, if re-elected, would be to ban biological boys from using school change rooms with biological girls.
Moe has promised deficits in the first two years, followed by a surplus in 2027.
Beck vowed to temporarily halt the gas tax, and eliminate the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and certain grocery items.
Beck said her campaign promises would cost an additional $3.5 billion over four years. She said she planned to balance the budget by the end of her term.
