Saskatchewan will be saying hello to Scott Moe.
The 44-year-old MLA was elected to be the Saskatchewan Party’s newest leader by party members on Jan. 27. Moe will replace outgoing Premier Brad Wall, who is stepping down from his post after 10 years as Saskatchewan’s head of government.
Moe defeated fellow leadership candidates Alanna Koch, Ken Cheveldayoff, Gord Wyant and Tina Beaudry-Mellor, receiving a majority of votes in the ranked-ballot election.
Moe represents the district of Rosthern-Shellbrook in provincial legislature, located west of Prince Albert. His constituency is the furthest north of any of the contending candidates. Sitting in legislature since 2011, Moe has served at varying times as the minister of education, minister of advanced education, minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency and the minister responsible for SaskWater.
As a candidate, Moe pledged to have Saskatchewan’s budget balanced by 2019, to fight against the federally mandated carbon tax and to reintroduce provincial sales tax exemptions on some expenses.
One key point in Moe’s campaign was planning to increase provincial education funding by $30 million. The funding increase promise comes after substantial education cuts in last year’s budget, with a $22 million decrease in operating spending for K-12 education and $44 million less for advanced education.
Details are still unclear on what Moe’s policy stance will be on northern issues or who will fill roles in provincial cabinet, which are typically shuffled after a leadership vote.
