Scott Moe elected Sask. Party leader

Scott Moe was elected the leader of the Saskatchewan Party and will serve as the province's next premier.

The Rosthern-Shellbrook MLA defeated four other candidates at a leadership convention Jan. 27: Alanna Koch, Ken Cheveldayoff, Gord Wyant and Tina Beaudry-Mellor. Rob Clarke was on the ballot but dropped out before the convention and endorsed Cheveldayoff.

"My commitment is that I will stand with you, I'll stand with your community and I'll stand with the people of Saskatchewan," he said during his victory speech.

Moe promised to keep on investing in infrastructure and in the economy going forward. He told the audience exports are up 65 per cent and agricultural exports doubled in the last decade.

He also promised to fight against a federally-imposed carbon tax.

"A federal carbon tax threatens the livelihood of every farmer, every miner, every worker in the energy sector. I will fight for this province, I will fight for our economy to ensure that we do not have a carbon tax."

He then gave the prime minister a warning on the issue.

"Justin Trudeau, if you're wondering how far I'll go, just watch me," Moe said, quoting the prime minister's father.

When Moe visited Tisdale Oct. 10, he said he wanted to see the province’s agricultural products processed further in Saskatchewan to provide more jobs.

More than 27,000 Sask. Party members were eligible to vote in the leadership race.

Votes were cast using a preferential voting system where voters were asked to rank their preferences from one to five. Candidates with the lowest amount of votes were then eliminated with the voter's next preference counted. The count continued until one candidate received more than 50 per cent of the vote. It took five rounds, with Koch in the lead for the first three. Moe overtook her in the fourth round and then secured the win with 53.87 per cent of the vote in the fifth.