After the introductory pleasantries, Moe faces tough decisions

Now that introductions are over, the time has come for Premier Scott Moe to make a first impression.

He’ll never get to make another one as Saskatchewan’s new premier ... which, for Moe, is maybe a tad unfortunate.

It’s difficult to make new friends, especially under difficult circumstances. Frankly, it may be difficult to keep old friends under the circumstances in which Moe now finds himself.

And there is little to suggest things are getting much easier.

That said, Moe’s first major speech to a non-partisan audience — the 113th Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) annual convention — was the kind of introduction that likely won him a few friends.

He kicked off matters with a joke that would have made Brad Wall proud, wryly noting it would be great to finally have a premier with a little charisma.

The new premier may do just fine ... although such endearing, self-effacing humour would be slightly more effective if Scott Moe abandoned the tick of thirdparty references to Scott Moe.

However, it wasn’t too long before Moe was confronted with one of the less-favourable aspects of his new job — informing stakeholders that times aren’t great and their expectations need to be lowered.

Maybe SUMA delegates wouldn’t exactly be shocked at the prospect of Moe telling them Monday they will face another “tight budget” on April 10 (pushed back 19 days from the legislative-calendar-scheduled March 21 date).

Worse yet, Moe raised the spectre of more “details” on grantsin-lieu payments to municipalities that were arbitrarily slashed in the poorly executed 2017-18 budget, a major concern for the province’s cities, which are gathered in Regina for the annual SUMA meeting.

“We need a permanent solution to grants-in-lieu,” Moe said Monday. “We are looking to make it a fair program for all municipalities.”

To his credit, Moe doesn’t seemed to have inherited the annoying habit of his predecessor of using the SUMA convention to launch trial balloons of cuts and other matters as a means of softening the budgetday blow.

Moe’s more straightforward approach may be welcome.

However, there is little doubt that towns and cities are stinging after last year’s budget, and the prospect of either not getting the full percentage point share of the provincial sales tax or seeing a further hammering of revenue sources like grants-in-lieu will not be welcomed.

It may be especially unwelcome because Moe’s Saskatchewan Party leadership race, followed by last Friday’s cabinet shuffle, might have only added to this tenuous relationship with the towns and cities.

The notion that Moe was not only the Sask. Party caucus candidate (23 MLAs supported him), but also the rural caucus candidate (17 rural MLAs supported him) will mean certain aspects of his policy-making will be scrutinized with more suspicion than others. This will be just such an area.

And appointing a rural MLA in Warren Kaeding as his Government Relations minister on Friday may heighten that suspicion ... at least until Moe’s new Sask. Party administration has a chance to prove otherwise.

The thing is, right now, both budgeting and governance in Saskatchewan isn’t really about proving anything.

Really, it’s got to be about getting through the next little while without doing much further damage to necessary and longstanding government program delivery, while returning to a balanced budget that Moe seems intent on delivering by 2020. This will be no easy task. However, Moe does have a couple of things going for him during this reboot.

There seems to be a bit more pent-up animosity toward the Wall administration than some might have thought. If Moe’s changes in cabinet and executive council and elsewhere suggest anything, it’s a willingness to change.

And when you think about it, Moe has been afforded a lovely opportunity for a do-over from the 2017-18 budget.

That may not seem much, but it’s got to start somewhere for a new premier in need of a good first impression.