As the dust settles from the provincial election and the final vote tallies are made, Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party will need to regroup and figure out how they are going to handle the next four years.
Heading into the next session of the Legislature, the Sask Party will again hold a majority government with 35 seats, while the NDP has 26 seats, with no other parties or party leaders winning a seat.
One thing should be abundantly clear to Moe, namely that it can’t be “business as usual” when the next session of the Legislature begins and the new MLAs are sworn in.
In his victory speech in his riding, Moe acknowledged that a message had been sent, as the Sask Party was shut out of Regina and out of Saskatoon except for two seats.
As he told his supporters, the Sask Party needs to do better, and make sure that the concerns of residents are being heard and dealt with properly.
With a stronger showing for the NDP, leader Carla Beck is promising to continue to hold the Sask Party to account, and specifically, in regards to health care and education as the top two issues.
There will be a number of new MLAs in the Legislative Assembly, including for the new riding of Weyburn-Bengough, where Mike Weger has taken over representing the Sask Party from Dustin Duncan.
He acknowledged that he has big shoes to fill, but his aim from the outset is to represent all constituents in the House, and to be accessible and available.
He also has a goal to visit every community in the riding, whether it’s Spring Valley, Kronau or Bengough.
Weger comes into his new role as a lawyer, and he feels the skill set and experience he has as a volunteer, as a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis, and as a coach will help him as he takes on a new role as an MLA.
In speaking to supporters and the media on Monday night, Weger had a conciliatory tone as he praised the campaigns of his opponents, in particular Rose McInnes of the Sask United Party, and Seth Lendrum of the NDP.
He admitted that the “polarizing” issue of wind turbines surprised him, but he promised to hear all sides and all views from anyone who wishes to approach him to talk.
This would be a good point of view for the provincial government to take as they begin to work over the next four years to govern, deliver budgets and make decisions that will have an impact on all residents of Saskatchewan.
As some of the other parties were shut out of the Legislature, it might also be instructive to consider some of the issues and points they brought up in the campaign as they relate to education, health care and the level of affordability that residents have to deal with on a daily basis.
