'remarkable' but 'bittersweet' victory for diminished sask. party
"you might see a provincial cabinet that has one person from one of the two big cities and nobody from the capital at all. that's going to make things difficult."
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forming five consecutive governments is a “remarkable thing” for the saskatchewan party, but in the aftermath of solid ndp gains, “it’s still got to be bittersweet,” a university of regina political science professor says. “no one has done this since tommy douglas did it,” said tom mcintosh in an interview tuesday, speaking to the results of the 2024 saskatchewan general election. “but it’s a much smaller majority and they’ve lost a number of cabinet ministers.”
by the early hours of tuesday morning, the sask. party was elected or leading in 35 ridings while the ndp was elected or leading in 26. results showed a divided province, with saskatchewan’s two major cities almost entirely orange and the rural ridings covered in blankets of green.
as premier scott moe now looks to form his cabinet and lead the province once again, he must grapple with being more or less boxed out of regina and saskatoon. in his victory speech, moe acknowledged the thousands of voters that did not cast a ballot for the sask. party.
he also reached across the aisle to thank saskatchewan ndp leader carla beck as well as all candidates in this month’s election.
“regardless of who you voted for in this election, you did so because you wanted what was best for the province that we know, love and live in and in this, i would say, each of us is united,” moe said.
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saskatchewan ndp leader carla beck embraces a supporter after delivering her concession speech on election night in regina.
heywood yu
/
the canadian press
it’s one thing to extend such an olive branch at the conclusion of an election, it’s another to carry it throughout a four-year mandate, university of saskatchewan assistant professor of political studies daniel westlake said.
during the provincial debate between the party leaders earlier this month, westlake saw moe present a more moderate political position “and the next morning, he was announcing policies on change rooms and trans rights.”
westlake says the diminished sask. party performance could be attributed to people taking stock of the cost of living and health care and then going on to “decide that they’re not happy with the way things are going in those areas and so they vote for the opposition.
“incumbents get blamed for bad things that happen when they’re in government, regardless of whether they’re actually responsible.”
mcintosh said whoever wins the two close races in saskatoon westview and saskatoon willowgrove, which had the sask. party leading by a too-close-to-call margin on tuesday, will almost certainly get a “cabinet post automatically.”
“you might see a provincial cabinet that has one person from one of the two big cities and nobody from the capital at all. that’s going to make things difficult,” said mcintosh, now that the rural-urban divide is “electorally set in concrete for a few years.”
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but “a win is a win,” said westlake, and the sask. party appears set to not only win a majority government but also the popular vote.
“the alberta conservatives in their run between 1971 and 2015, they never did that, they never got 50 per cent of the vote five times in a row. that’s remarkable,” he added.
as for the ndp, the party will be able to form a more substantive opposition, but westlake highlighted what he called a lack of meaningful inroads made in centres like moose jaw and prince albert.
“that’s really challenging for the ndp moving forward,” he said.
as for the future of the sask. party, mcintosh said he can see this being moe’s last election as party leader. if he completes this next four-year term, moe will have been party leader and premier for a full decade. mcintosh argues moe has already made his mark on the party and the province.
in a pre-election interview last month, moe was asked about what his political future holds.
“there’s two ways people leave politics. one is you leave or two you get punted,” he said at the time. “i would hope that i’m able to find my way to the former.”
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