Scott Moe's 1st order of business as Sask. premier: Organize his cabinet
Election results, retirements leave premier with a lot of holes to fill
The Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly will have an unfamiliar look when it resumes sitting late next month: following this week's provincial election, the Opposition NDP has nearly doubled its seat count, while Premier Scott Moe will have to fill a cabinet decimated by retirements and election defeats.
Trusted names who sometimes carried heavy portfolios are gone, and Moe is facing the prospect of a cabinet with likely only one MLA from Saskatoon and none from Regina.
After an initial mail-in ballot count, the NDP's April ChiefCalf has taken a slim lead in Saskatoon Westview over incumbent David Buckingham.
Ken Cheveldayoff seems likely to hold off a challenge from NDP hopeful Alana Wakula in Saskatoon Willowgrove. He leads by 178 votes before the final vote count on Nov. 9.
Cheveldayoff is the longest-serving MLA (21 years), ahead of Moe, Jeremy Harrison and Jim Reiter (13 years).
If the current outstanding races hold, the Saskatchewan Party will have 34 seats in the assembly and the NDP will have 27, nearly double its count before the vote.
In the process, the NDP knocked off all five sitting cabinet ministers from Saskatoon and Regina:
- Bronwyn Eyre, Justice.
- Christine Tell, Environment.
- Gene Makowsky, Social Services.
- Laura Ross, Parks, Culture and Sport and Status of Women.
- Paul Merriman, Corrections, Policing and Public Safety.
All five had experience in multiple portfolios, including Merriman in Health and Tell in Corrections and Policing.
Moe also has to replace cabinet veterans Donna Harpauer, Don McMorris, Dustin Duncan and Joe Hargrave, as well as recent ministers Don Morgan and Gordon Wyant.
Nine more Saskatchewan Party MLAs did not seek re-election.
Nine cabinet ministers were re-elected: Colleen Young, David Marit, Everett Hindley, Jeremy Cockrill, Jeremy Harrison, Jim Reiter, Lori Carr, Terry Jenson and Tim McLeod.
Moe's last cabinet had 17 posts, leaving eight spots open at present. Seven more Saskatchewan Party incumbents were re-elected, and only Warren Kaeding has experience in cabinet.
Cabinet picture
Cheveldayoff has been in and out of cabinet over the years, first in 2007 after the Saskatchewan Party formed government. He ran for leadership in 2018 but finished third. Moe appointed him to cabinet after the leadership race but was shuffled out after the 2020 election.
Cheveldayoff would be the only government MLA representing what is considered a seat in Saskatoon or Regina. He is a safe bet to be in Moe's new cabinet.
Jamie Martens, the newly elected MLA for Martensville-Blairmore, represents voters in the Saskatoon neighbourhood of Blairmore. She has been deputy mayor of Martensville and has been a councillor there since 2012. Moe could tap Martens if he wants another Saskatoon-area minister.
Alana Ross was re-elected in Prince Albert Northcote and, as the only incumbent member from the province's next largest centre, she could be added to Moe's cabinet giving it greater representation in the urban centre. Ross previously was deputy whip.
Moe's most recent cabinet comprised 11 men and six women. After losing Eyre, Harpauer, Ross and Tell, the premier is likely to seek similar representation, which means selecting at least four more women. Only Ross, Carr and Young were re-elected; five other women who won for the Saskatchewan Party are new members.
Moe downplayed any urban-rural divide in his victory speech on Tuesday.
The Saskatchewan Party's failures to win multiple seats in Regina and Saskatoon stand in stark contrast to their success outside those two cities. They won in 11 of the next largest population centres, including Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Lloydminster and Yorkton.
Biggest portfolios unfilled
Some of the biggest cabinet portfolios — Finance, Social Services, Justice, and Corrections and Policing — are unfilled. In addition, Minister of Education Jeremy Cockrill has faced criticism from the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation and the NDP in recent months.
All aforementioned ministries were main focuses of both the Saskatchewan Party and NDP campaigns.
A new finance minister will need to navigate election promises and another projected deficit. In Social Services, homelessness and social income assistance have been front and centre in legislative debate.
The outgoing justice minister was the messenger in the provincial government's legal spats with Ottawa, and there is a dispute in the courts over Bill 137.
Tim McLeod is one of two government members who have recently practised law. The other is the newly elected Michael Weger (Weyburn-Bengough). McLeod is currently minister of mental health and addictions and rural and remote health.
Moe and NDP Leader Carla Beck regularly pointed to crime and the government's incoming marshals service.
Cockrill might be shuffled out after a tumultuous 14 months as education minister. If he remains in that post, the NDP will likely continue its critiques, especially after a handful of teachers won seats.
Harrison (Trade and Export Development), Hindley (Health), Jenson (Sask Builds and Procurement) and Young (Advanced Education) could remain in their current posts.
Jenson and Young were recently appointed. Hindley's file, the largest, would be difficult to hand over after an election that saw health care as one of the top issues for voters. Harrison has maintained a post related to the economy or trade since 2010.
Moe might ask Carr (Highways), Marit (Agriculture) and Reiter (Energy and Resources) to switch roles.
With the final vote count on Nov. 9, Moe will likely fill those eight spots formally in the days after. New ministers, or those shuffled to different portfolios, will need time to get up to speed. The fall sitting and a throne speech outlining the government's legislative priorities should take place at the end of the month.
LISTEN | CBC's political panel discusses the aftermath of the election:
