{"id":149308,"date":"2018-01-27T23:57:28","date_gmt":"2018-01-28T04:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=149308"},"modified":"2018-01-27T23:57:28","modified_gmt":"2018-01-28T04:57:28","slug":"scott-moe-wins-on-fifth-ballot-to-replace-wall-as-saskatchewan-premier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/01\/27\/scott-moe-wins-on-fifth-ballot-to-replace-wall-as-saskatchewan-premier\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Moe wins on fifth ballot to replace Wall as Saskatchewan premier"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cWe<\/a>
\u201cWe will not impose a carbon tax on the good people of this province,\u201d Moe said after winning the Saskatchewan Party leadership. (Photo: Scott Moe\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SASKATOON \u2014 Immediately after he was chosen as the next premier of Saskatchewan Saturday night, Scott Moe threw down the gauntlet on the threat of a federal carbon tax by using a line from the prime minister’s late father.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not impose a carbon tax on the good people of this province,\u201d Moe said after winning the Saskatchewan Party leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Justin Trudeau, if you are wondering how far I will go \u2014 just watch me.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took five ballots in the preferential system for the former advanced education and environment minister to take the party’s top job. He beat out three other provincial cabinet ministers and a senior civil servant to win the leadership.<\/p>\n

As a former environment minister, Moe, who is 44, has been a central figure in Saskatchewan’s battle to resist the federal government’s insistence that provinces put a price on carbon. As the lone holdout among the provinces, Saskatchewan has said it will take the matter to the courts if necessary.<\/p>\n

The \u201cjust watch me\u201d line was used by Trudeau’s father, Pierre, during the October Crisis in 1970, when he was asked by a reporter how far he was prepared to go to maintain law and order in Quebec.<\/p>\n

Moe was raised on a farm in the Shellbrook area, about 140 kilometres north of Saskatoon, where he still lives with his wife Krista. The couple has two children. Moe has a bachelor of science in agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan and was first elected as a member of the legislature in the 2011 provincial election.<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, he was involved in a car crash that left one person dead. He was given a ticket for driving without due care and attention, and he has since said the crash has shaped who he is as a person today.<\/p>\n

Moe takes over from Brad Wall, who has consistently ranked as one of the country’s most popular and well-known premiers.<\/p>\n

Wall surprised many in August when he announced he was calling it quits, as public anger lingered over an austerity budget that both raised taxes and made deep spending cuts.<\/p>\n

Wall pitched his departure as an opportunity for renewal within the Saskatchewan Party, which has been in power since 2007.<\/p>\n

Moe will lead a province in a very different fiscal and political position than the one Wall enjoyed for much of his tenure.<\/p>\n

Low resource prices have led to large public deficits, despite a recent increase to the provincial sales tax and deep program cuts.<\/p>\n

An investigation into a government land deal is in the hands of out-of-province prosecutors and could lead to charges.<\/p>\n

Moe has promised a plan to balance the Saskatchewan budget by 2019. He’s also promised to add 400 educational assistants and other educational professionals to classrooms across the province.<\/p>\n

While Moe won the leadership, it was Wall who gave one of the most fiery addresses of the night.<\/p>\n

On his way out after 10 years as premier, Wall delivered a final podium-pounding speech, taking aim at the Opposition NDP in his province and the governing New Democrats next door in Alberta.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s like their ideology has become an orthodoxy,\u201d Wall said. \u201cIt’s like a church. You can picture it, can’t you, this church \u2014 thick orange shag rug in the aisle and lava lamps at the altar.\u201d<\/p>\n

He blasted Alberta’s government for running a $10 billion deficit with no immediate plan to pay it back, and he warned the NDP in Saskatchewan would do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook next door,\u201d Wall said. \u201cThey’ll add $30 billion to the debt of future Albertans in just three years, with no path to balance … at least none in the life of the current government.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Wall heralded his government’s achievements around economic development and population growth, as well as its steadfast resistance to a carbon tax called for by the federal Liberal government.<\/p>\n

He also took a shot at the federal NDP and its anti-fossil fuel \u201cLeap Manifesto.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis thing could not be any more anti-Saskatchewan if it were called the ‘We Hate Bunny Hugs, Perogies and Vi-Co Manifesto,\u201d’ he said, referring to the uniquely Saskatchewan terms for hoodie and chocolate milk.<\/p>\n

The next provincial election in Saskatchewan is set for 2020.<\/p>\n

The Saskatchewan NDP, which will pick its own new leader later this year, congratulated Moe on his win, then went on the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the people of Saskatchewan, it’s going to be the same bad management and cruel and heartless cuts,\u201d interim leader Nicole Sarauer said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Moe was remarkably low-key when speaking to reporters after his victory speech Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is me being excited,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I am really, really excited … but to have the faith of the people of the province to go through a process like this, I feel very humbled \u2014 but I also feel very personally rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SASKATOON \u2014 Immediately after he was chosen as the next premier of Saskatchewan Saturday night, Scott Moe threw down the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":149315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[32338,44949],"class_list":["post-149308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","tag-saskatchewan-premier","tag-scott-moe","mauthors-bill-graveland","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}