REGINA - Premier Scott Moe says his Sask Party government will listen to the message sent from voters after dropping two out of three by-elections Thursday to the NDP.
“By-elections are about voters sending a message, and now it’s up to our government to listen and to act on that message that has been sent here this week,” said Moe.
The August 10 by-election results saw the NDP take two previously Sask Party-held seats in Walsh Acres and Coronation Park, while retaining Lumsden-Morse with a reduced share of the popular vote.
The NDP had pointed to concerns by voters about affordability as a major one raised at the doorsteps, and Moe expressed a similar view in speaking to reporters at the legislature Friday,
Moe said voters were concerned about “housing, housing availability in their city and more broadly across the province”, and also concerned “about the cost of living” and the uncertainty from that.
Moe also said there was a secondary concern they had heard at the doorsteps — about “supporting families in the community,” referring to instances of homelessness that have been higher than in the past.
The indication from the Premier was that the government needed to take seriously how to support families with cost of living increases, and how to support those who may be most vulnerable and have mental health or addictions challenges.
“As the government of Saskatchewan, we need to listen to that message. And we need to take a look as to what we could do to address those concerns of those families and those individuals in the city of Regina and I’d say more broadly across the province.”
Moe insisted the party had taken seriously the by-elections and had been out on the doorsteps campaigning. But in the end, the SaskParty losses in Walsh Acres, won by the NDP’s Jared Clarke, and Coronation Park, won by the NDP’s Noor Burki, continued a long string of losses for the Sask Party in by-elections in both Regina and Saskatoon.
Moe noted that in 16 attempts the Sask Party has won just one urban by-election — Gord Wyant in Saskatoon Northwest in 2000. In Regina the Sask Party has never won a by-election, with the string of losses now up to six in a row.
“Urban by-election wins have proven to be very elusive for the Saskatchewan Party,” Moe said.
However, Moe also pointed to two instances in Regina where the party was able to reverse a by-election result in the following general election — in Regina Douglas Park and then more recently in Regina Northeast.
The Premier expressed hope it could happen again. “It’s possible, if our government listens to the message — the message that voters sent in yesterday’s by-election.”
Lumsden High School incident an election issue
Moe also spoke at length about the result in Lumsden-Morse. While he congratulated all the successful by-election candidates and was particularly pleased with the win by the Sask Party’s Blaine McLeod in Lumsden-Morse, he did speak about one of the issues that may have been responsible for the strong showing of the Saskatchewan United Party, who received just under 23 per cent of the vote in that riding.
During the campaign, the SUP and their candidate Jon Hromek raised concerns about the recent incident in Lumsden High School where Planned Parenthood had left some sexually-explicit cards during a presentation to grade 9 students. That turned into a major issue for their party in the by-election campaign there, an issue that Moe also acknowledged.
“We heard from many voters, many parents who were concerned and quite upset about some completely inappropriate material that was presented to their students and their children in the community of Lumsden, and in the school in Lumsden,” said Moe.
“And I share those very same concerns, as does the Minister of Education. Now a majority of voters in Lumsden-Morse still believe that it is the Saskatchewan Party that is the best option to address these concerns, and we intend to do just that. In the next few weeks you will hear from our Minister of Education. He will be putting forward a plan to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again in a Saskatchewan school, that all the materials in the classrooms are appropriate for the age of student that is in that classroom, and that parents are included and engaged in their children’s education, engaged in the materials that are coming into the classroom, engaged in the curriculum that is being presented in that classroom, and engaged in who is actually presenting that material.”
Moe was also asked about another issue that emerged from the Lumsden-Morse byelection — the prospect that the Saskatchewan United Party could threaten to split the vote in the next provincial election.
Moe pointed to past instances of vote-splitting helping the NDP get elected, including in 2015 in Alberta, and made it known a vote for one of the smaller parties might result in a completely opposite result of what voters wish.
“There are two parties that can form government in this province,” said Moe, who warned if voters “split the vote, you quite likely will end up with something you don’t like.”
Response to federal clean energy regulations
Moe also responded to reporters about the federal Clean Energy Plan which came out this week, one that has drawn criticism this week from Moe as well as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Moe reiterated power was within provincial jurisdiction and that the federal plan was unworkable and they couldn’t afford it.
“So we won’t be doing it,” said Moe. He said the question on how to respond is really for the federal government, “because we’ve said what we’re going to do.”
“We said what we’re doing, we’re going to chart our course here in the province, and the federal government will have to respond in whatever we do.”
