Moe and Sask. Party to target urban ridings in 2020 election

Premier looks to win back seats lost to NDP in three byelections

Premier Scott Moe urged delegates to the Saskatchewan Party’s convention to hit the doorsteps to win close-fought urban seats he confirmed will be a key target in the 2020 provincial election campaign.

“Our urban seats are going to be a focus for us going into that election,” Moe told reporters Saturday before the party’s election prep session at the Queensbury Convention Centre in Regina.

He said Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw are the areas where his party sees room to grow.

But Moe suggested that the Sask. Party won’t be writing off any seats, calling the whole province a “battleground” in 2020.

The Sask. Party has lost the last three urban byelections to the NDP, in Saskatoon Meewasin, Saskatoon Fairview and Regina Northeast.

Moe expressed confidence that his party can win those kinds of ridings back in 2020.

“We’re going to win the way that we always have by working harder than the other guys,” he told delegates, “because good old Saskatchewan hard work always works better than the fear tactics that we see from the NDP.”

NDP staffers were in the audience to listen in on Moe’s speech. Adrienne King, chief of staff to Opposition Leader Ryan Meili, said she would have expected more enthusiasm and a clearer contrast of visions for the future of the province. She called the convention “boring” while NDP provincial secretary John Tzupa said it was “anticlimactic.”

A Saskatchewan Party MLA facing assault charges says she remains a member of the party caucus because Premier Scott Moe wanted her to to stay.

Nadine Wilson, who represents the Saskatchewan Rivers riding near Prince Albert, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault on July 25.

Wilson left her position as provincial secretary after the charges — which are to be dealt with through mediation rather than the usual criminal court proceedings — but remained a member of caucus.

“Because the premier wishes me to,” Wilson, who has not previously answered reporters’ questions about the charges, replied when asked Saturday at the Sask. Party convention in Regina why she remained in caucus.

Wilson added that she did not offer to step aside from the party caucus before declining to answer further questions based on the advice of her lawyer. “I’m just not comfortable with talking about it right now,” she said.

"Ms. Wilson maintains her innocence, and as the charges have not been proven in court, she will remain a member of the government caucus,” Moe said at the time she was charged.

Speaking to reporters at the convention on Saturday, Moe reiterated that position and said he did not know how he could remove someone from caucus who is maintaining their innocence.

“People in this country are innocent until they are proven otherwise, and that is the case with (Wilson) as well,” Moe said.

When her charges last came up in Saskatoon Provincial Court in September, they were adjourned to Oct. 7.

Saskatchewan NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer has said any MLA who is charged with a crime should be removed from caucus until the matter is resolved.

Don Mcmorris resigned from cabinet and was removed from caucus after being charged with impaired driving in August 2016. He pleaded guilty the following month. Mcmorris returned to the party caucus in March 2017.

Wilson was nominated on Jan. 15 as the Sask. Party’s candidate in Saskatchewan Rivers for the 2020 election. She declined to say if the charges would affect her re-election plans

Saskatoon police said the charges stemmed from an “alleged incident that took place in Saskatoon on March 21, 2019.”

Wilson’s lawyer, Mark Brayford, subsequently said the incident involved a dispute between Wilson and her stepmother and stepbrother about whether to call an ambulance for her father, who has since died.

“There are some disputes that just, with common sense and basic humanity, don’t belong in a criminal courtroom,” Brayford said last month in explaining why the case was headed to mediation rather than a courtroom.

Mediation is a form of an alternate resolution, in which an accused and a victim or representative meet with a facilitator to discuss an offence. If successful, the charge is typically stayed.