Saskatchewan residents are waking up to another Saskatchewan Party government, after Premier Scott Moe secured a fifth-straight majority for the party in Monday鈥檚 election.
Moe鈥檚 party lost in the big cities while retaining its grip on rural areas to secure 35 seats in the 61-seat legislature.
The Saskatchewan Party was shut out by Carla Beck鈥檚 NDP in Regina and lost all but two seats in Saskatoon.
But it found enough support everywhere else to be elected in 35 seats in the 61-seat legislature, compared with 26 for the NDP.
He said his government heard the message sent by voters that there is unhappiness in how the province is delivering health care, education and making life affordable.
鈥淭hank you once again, Saskatchewan for placing your trust in our party, the Saskatchewan Party,鈥� Moe said as supporters in Shellbrook clapped and whooped.
鈥淭his was a much closer election than we鈥檝e seen for some time.鈥�
Moe says he must do better. He says he has heard the message sent by voters that there鈥檚 unhappiness in how the province is delivering health care, education and making life more affordable.
鈥淲e must do better and we most certainly will,鈥� he said.
Beck has said while she鈥檚 disappointed by her loss, she鈥檚 proud of the gains her party made and she will continue to hold Moe accountable.
The New Democrats almost doubled their seat total from the 14 it had at dissolution, retaining seats and gaining more in Regina and Saskatoon. In doing so, they defeated Saskatoon cabinet ministers Christine Tell, Bronwyn Eyre and Paul Merriman along with Regina鈥檚 Laura Ross and Gene Makowsky.
Beck retained her seat in Regina Lakeview.
The NDP also gained back the rural northern riding of Athabasca, which it won in 2020 only to lose to the Saskatchewan Party in a subsequent byelection.
But with 31 rural seats to 30 urban ones, the NDP鈥檚 margin of error was razor thin. It needed wins in the two seats in Moose Jaw and the two in Prince Albert 鈥� but failed to get them.
Beck delivered her concession speech in Regina to cheers from supporters and chants of 鈥淐arla! Carla!鈥�
鈥淔riends, we came so close,鈥� said Beck. 鈥淢any people did not give us much of a chance, but we believed.
鈥淲e鈥檝e given people a reason to hope again, and that鈥檚 not nothing. That鈥檚 a victory in its own right.
鈥淲e鈥檝e changed the landscape in this province.鈥�
Moe, in his second election as leader of the Saskatchewan Party, kept his seat in Rosthern-Shellbrook.
Other Saskatchewan Party cabinet ministers were re-elected: David Marit, Jim Reiter, Colleen Young, Lori Carr, Everett Hindley, Terry Jenson, Jeremy Cockrill, Tim McLeod and Jeremy Harrison.
Harrison was a controversial figure on the hustings. Earlier this year, he apologized for carrying a gun into the legislature about a decade ago while on the way to go hunting.
Moe鈥檚 Saskatchewan Party has been in power for 17 years in office, while Beck鈥檚 NDP was looking to take back government for the first time since 2007.
It鈥檚 the third straight campaign where the Saskatchewan Party has lost seats 鈥� from 51 in 2016, to 48 in 2020. The party had 42 seats at dissolution due to byelection losses, retirements and two members facing criminal charges.
The voting capped a month-long campaign that focused on health care, affordability and crime.
Beck pledged to spend more to fix health care and education, pause the gas tax, and remove the provincial sales tax on children鈥檚 clothes and some grocery items.
Moe promised broad tax relief and continued withholding of federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa.
He also promised that his first order of business if re-elected would be to ban 鈥渂iological boys鈥� from using school changing rooms with 鈥渂iological girls.鈥�
He said he made the promise after learning of a complaint at a southeast Saskatchewan school about two biological boys using a girls change room.
It was later revealed that a parent of the two children who were the subjects of the complaint is an NDP candidate. Moe said he didn鈥檛 know that when he made the promise.
Beck has said such a ban would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable. She also promised to repeal a Saskatchewan Party law that requires parental consent if children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns at school.
