In their end-of-year interviews, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Opposition Leader Carla Beck look back on a busy election year. The two political figures also shared their vision for 2025.
Scott Moe and his Saskatchewan Party government were re-elected with a majority for a fifth time in a row this year. He doesn’t hide his pride.
Despite this victory, Carla Beck’s New Democratic opposition was able to do well and elect a group of 27 seats, almost double the 14 they had at the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly.
Scott Moe wants to listen to Saskatchewanians better
In 2024, the goal was to once again form a government. It’s mission accomplished for Scott Moe, but several losses of seats in the province’s major cities have weakened the team. The Prime Minister believes he has heard the message from Saskatchewanians and understood it.
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Scott Moe promised Saskatchewanians a “fresh start” during the Speech from the Throne.
Photo: The Canadian Press / Heywood Yu
The goal for the new year will therefore be to double down on health and education as well as respect the commitments in the Speech from the Throne, according to Scott Moe.
We will use Saskatchewan’s strong economy so that everyone has access to care.
He assures that this promise will be felt in the spring provincial budget. Scott Moe wants to invest in what he believes works in health: new urgent care centers like the one in Regina which opened its doors during the year.
Strengthening economic relations between the province and the United States is also essential in 2025 for its government. Scott Moe says his government will benefit from the contacts built with the Trump administration during his last stint at the White House.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs does not worry the prime minister, who instead sees the moment as an opportunity.
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Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe rejected the idea of retaliatory tariffs on exports, a countermeasure raised by some in response to the threat of U.S. tariffs in mid-December.
Photo: The Canadian Press / Heywood Yu
We need strong leadership in Ottawa to then come together to the negotiating table
he says, once again calling for a federal election to be called.
On a personal level, Scott Moe reaffirms his desire to get involved in politics. For him, when you run for an election, you commit for four years, in victory as well as in defeat.
I started getting involved in politics in 2011 to have a positive impact for my province that I love, and I want to continue to do so.
A bittersweet year for Carla Beck
New Democratic leader Carla Beck certainly ends the year at the head of a significant opposition, the largest the province has seen in more than 15 years, but she cannot help but feel a touch of disappointment .
Our goal was to form a government, we didn’t exactly get there.
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Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Leader Carla Beck celebrates after her party’s results on election night, October 28, 2024.
Photo: The Canadian Press / Heywood Yu
However, she believes that her team had a mountain to climb and that they were able to do it thanks to several months of hard work on the ground.
It was moving to see so many seats on our side!
The majority of the members of her caucus are MPs whom she describes as recruits
but they certainly knew how to stand out during the short parliamentary session in the fall, she believes. This is the case of Jared Clarke, NDP MP for Regina Walsh Acres, whose speech at the opening of the parliamentary session greatly moved her.
The MP criticized Scott Moe for taking his children for targets
when he promised to ban biological boys in girls’ locker rooms
during the campaign. It’s a moment no family should have to experience according to Carla Beck.
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Following Jared Clarke’s speech, Carla Beck said Premier Scott Moe broke a pact by attacking the candidate’s family. (Archive photo)
Photo: Provided by the Government
The goal for its formation in 2025 will be to ensure that the message of change launched by voters will be heard and respected, according to the leader of the opposition. Carla Beck does not have the impression that the government has changed its way of governing, contrary to what it claims.
The opposition leader is also concerned about the threat of tariffs from US President-elect Donald Trump which would devastating
at all levels, for the province.
As the possibility of a federal election in 2025 becomes more and more plausible, Carla Beck says she is ready to sit down and talk with any government elected in Ottawa.
In 2025, the leader of the New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan affirms that her party will still be present on the ground in order to prove to Saskatchewanians that they are a government in the making
.
With information from Adam Hunter
