Moe gets endorsement of 21 Sask. Party MLAs
Former environment minister joins race to replace retiring Wall as party leader
Less than two hours after shelving his bid to replace Brad Wall, former economy minister Jeremy Harrison joined almost half the Saskatchewan Party caucus at the offices of a trucking company north of Saskatoon to support Rosthern-Shellbrook MLA Scott Moe’s campaign to become the province’s next premier.
Among the 21 MLAs to endorse the former environment minister — who was not initially expected to run — were Finance Minister Donna Harpauer, Advanced Education Minister Kevin Doherty, Environment Minister Dustin Duncan and Health Minister Jim Reiter. The unmatched caucus support led Moe to frame his campaign as a group effort.
“The fact of the matter is that, as I said, there is no one person that is going to be able to fill the shoes of our premier,” Moe told reporters Friday morning. “He’s been the most popular premier across the nation for a number of years and when we have our talks on how are we going to do this … we came to the conclusion that we’re going to do it as a team.”
While Moe did not unveil a major policy platform at his announcement, he did — like his competitors — come out swinging against the federal Liberal government’s plan to impose a nationwide carbon price next year.
Climate change is real, but concentrating on technology in power generation — meaning carbon capture — and agriculture is a better path forward, he told reporters.
Moe was first elected in 2011 and served as minister of Advanced Education before being shuffled to the Environment file. He was not initially expected to cast his name into contention, but rumours began swirling after Reiter — who was thought to be a potential front-runner — did not resign from cabinet by Wall’s deadline of last Monday.
During the lead-up to the 2016 provincial election, it emerged that three Sask. Party candidates, including Moe, had been previously convicted of drunk driving. Asked how much of a political liability the 1992 incident would be during the campaign and if he wins, Moe acknowledged the incident was a long time ago but said he continues to regret it.
“It’s something I truly regret. It’s also something that’s part of me. It’s part of me, it’s part of the decisions that I make in caucus, in cabinet and in my life — and we’ve made some of those decisions, quite frankly, recently in caucus and in cabinet on behalf of the government of Saskatchewan and made change with respect to driving while impaired.”
Asked whether the involvement of besieged former cabinet minister Bill Boyd in a series of controversial land deals at the Global Transportation Hub constituted wrongdoing, Moe sidestepped and said Saskatchewan citizens have expectations for elected officials, and that policies to protect that expectation remain in place and discussions with his team are ongoing.
Following the withdrawal of Harrison, who declined to comment on Friday, Moe joins former cabinet colleagues Tina Beaudry-Mellor, Ken Cheveldayoff and Gord Wyant, and former deputy minister to the premier Alanna Koch in the race to replace Wall.
The Sask. Party is expected to choose its new leader at a convention in Saskatoon on Jan. 27.
... There is no one person that is going to be able to fill the shoes of our premier ... we’re going to do it as a team.