As of this printing, one of five people will be the next Premier of Saskatchewan. Tina Beaudry-Mellor, Ken Cheveldayoff, Alanna Koch, Scott Moe and Gord Wyant are the candidates for the leadership of the Saskatchewan Party, and that means they will lead the province until the next election in 2020. All five were in Yorkton at the Chamber of Commerce’s leadership forum, to meet constituents and outline their vision for the province, answering questions from the Chamber as well the assembled crowd.
Wyant’s pitch to the party faithful went back to the origins of the party itself, as he focused on the party’s “founding principles.” Focusing on the party’s origin, bringing together people from the province’s Progressive Conservative and Liberal Party MLAs, he focused on maintaining the party’s legacy.
Koch’s opening remarks positioned her as the “most prepared” to lead the party, and she focused on her experience working with government in order to bolster her leadership build. Taking advantage of her position on the Gallagher Centre stage, she also noted that she was endorsed by the Gallagher family.
Cheveldayoff said that his position was that the next leader of the province needed a rural background as well as urban experience, as well as experience as a cabinet minister, which he believes makes him an ideal candidate. He also reminded the crowd that it’s the party’s grass roots that decide the next leader, emphasizing the importance of their vote.
Moe focused on his economic message, with an exports-focused campaign, as well as referencing the endorsement of 22 MLAs in the province. He also emphasized the founding of the party and said the founding members’ vision was what lead to the party’s success.
Beaudry-Mellor, emphasized the need to grow the party, as well as position it to welcome new members as well as former members. She mentioned that the party needs to focus on areas where it is currently weak, such as urban ridings, where it has lost some recent by-elections to the NDP.
One thing that separated the candidates were who did, and did not, sign the Canadian Taxpayer Federation’s pledge to balance the budget in two years. Moe, Cheveldayoff and Wyantall did, while Koch and Beaudry-Mellor did not. Koch called it a promise she could not keep, one that would have resulted in harsher cuts and tied the hands of the eventual premier. Beaudry-Mellor said her plan to re-instate the PST exemption on insurance made it impossible, and noted the government should be doing things like reinstating podiatry services, as she has read letters from seniors to Yorkton This Week on the subject.
Wyant, who did sign, suggested it was time to move more services provided by government to the private sector. Moe did, but noted that he will use the full two years, as to re-balance the budget in one would make it dire. Cheveldayoff said that a balanced budget protects everyone.
For the city of Yorkton, one of the biggest issues was the budget shortfall caused by the cancellation of the grants in lieu program, which cost the city $1.54 million. The five leadership candidates did not commit to reinstate it, instead proposing alternate means of making up for the shortfall, often promoting the municipal revenue sharing program. Beaudry-Mellor called it an “unfair, complicated and complex model” and promoted her proposed two year budget process as a way to better prepare the cities for big changes in the future. Koch lambasted the change as a “back door job” that the cities could not have predicted. Cheveldayoff and Moe both pointed to revenue sharing as the way of the future when funding cities, while Moe praised local mayors for advocating for their municipalities. Wyant called for a “respectful dialog” and admitted that in their haste for a balanced budget, the government didn’t respect the consequences of the action.
Those hit by the loss of STC would not be encouraged by the leadership candidates, as all said that the shutdown of the province’s bus service was a necessary evil as it lost money.
In a question about the Urban Connector program, Beaudry-Mellor also proposed not paying for sick time in government as a way of saving money, saying government workers take more sick time than in the private sector, particularly in health care, blaming this for increasing the cost of services.
Brent Murdock, the President of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce, said they were pleased with the event, which they believe it was important to host given that there were otherwise no official Yorkton stops in the leadership race. He was pleased with the questions asked and the answers given by the leadership candidates.
“I thought it was great success.”
Murdock notes that they are open to hosting a similar event for the opposition NDP’s leadership race.
