No snap election in spring, says Moe
REGINA After weeks of speculation and mixed messaging over whether Saskatchewan voters will head to the polls early, Premier Scott Moe has committed to not calling a snap spring election.
In a statement sent out through his press secretary Thursday morning, Moe cited the need for stable leadership as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to rock global markets and raise health concerns. “We will remain focused on providing a strong, stable government and addressing the health and economic challenges caused by the COVID -19 pandemic,” Moe said. “I will not be calling a provincial election this spring.”
Saskatchewan has a set election date of Oct. 26 for this year. But the premier has the right to dissolve the legislature early and send voters to the polls.
Moe has faced questions over whether an election would facilitate the transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19, as campaign events and the bustle of election day would work against the need for social distancing to contain the virus.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Roughly one hour after Moe’s statement on Thursday, Saskatchewan’s Health Ministry announced the first presumptive case in the province.
Moe travelled to Ottawa on Thursday to attend a First Ministers Meeting, which was cancelled after news broke that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in self-isolation due to his wife being tested for COVID-19.
The premier was thus unavailable for questions about his decision. Health Minister Jim Reiter spoke with reporters in his place to address why Moe decided to put out a clear statement after weeks of ambiguity.
Moe said this month that an election will happen “sooner than soon.” As recently as Wednesday, the premier was still refusing to rule out a spring election and said he wanted a mandate from the people of Saskatchewan.
“Our four years is up now,” he said at the time.
Reiter argued that the premier had always been “up front” with voters.
“He needed to make a decision weighing the fact that when would be the time this would have the least impact on people there is no way of knowing that. So he’s been nothing but up front. He has said clearly that I have some windows of opportunity,” said Reiter.
“There’s been so much speculation about this, and people reading into what he said, that he’d already made up his mind to go early. He didn’t.”
Asked why Moe remained noncommittal just the day before, Reiter said “everything unfolded very quickly” on Wednesday.
NDP Leader Ryan Meili, who has been calling for clarity on the election date for weeks, commended Moe for his decision to rule out an early vote. He said in question period on Thursday that a spring election would have been “reckless and irresponsible.”
“We’re very pleased and grateful that that’s been heard, and I want to thank the premier for his decision today,” said Meili.
There are more than 131,000 cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide.