It was an eventful day Thursday for the leadership bid of Scott Moe in the Battlefords.
The reason was because of the big news earlier about the cancellation of the Energy East pipeline project.
It was an issue that was clearly on the minds of Moe and the other Sask Party supporters who gathered at Porta Bella’s restaurant for the meet-and-greet event.
Earlier in the day, Premier Brad Wall had issued a statement in which he unloaded on the federal government over what had happened.
“It’s very problematic and challenging for us as the province, and it’s a sad day,” Moe said in speaking to the News-Optimist.
“It’s billions of dollars of private investment that we’re not going to see, not just in Saskatchewan but across the nation. And so this is damaging to Saskatchewan in that we’re going to not see that investment, we’re not going to see those jobs, we’re not going to see that revenue to the individual families who would be involved in the construction of the pipeline, we’re not going to see the revenues the provinces across the nation would see.”
Moe called the cancellation problematic from an investment perspective and an employment perspective. It also means continued issues for Saskatchewan in the “sale of our resources in our nation that we are part of.”
Another ongoing issue has been the federal carbon tax. Moe’s campaign had been vocal in opposing carbon taxes.
“We have a much more fulsome story to have here in the province of Saskatchewan, one that involves innovation and technology,” said Moe. He pointed to such things as carbon capture at Boundary Dam 3 as well as the 40 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030.
The issues surrounding the carbon tax and pipelines are ones Moe, MLA for Rosthern-Shellbrook since 2011, is well familiar with. He has been Minister of Environment in the Wall government and also served as Minister of Advanced Education.
In the leadership race so far Moe has received the backing of 22 members of caucus. One of those endorsements was from Jeremy Harrison, MLA for Meadow Lake, who was at the Battlefords event Thursday.
Harrison made it known to the rest of those in the room that he thought Moe was the one best able to stand up to the federal government.
“This is the guy to be the next premier of Saskatchewan. Honestly,” said Harrison.
“And we saw another example of it today, where the Liberal government made a series of policy choices that result in the Energy East pipeline being cancelled.”
Battlefords MLA Herb Cox, who himself has been Minister of Environment, was at the event as well, but he has yet to make a public endorsement of any candidate for leader.
Moe’s own constituency of Rosthern-Shellbrook borders on the Battlefords to the northeast, and Moe has been to the city many times over the last number of years on issues impacting the region.
As for the leadership campaign, there are three broad themes he says he is focusing on.
One, Moe said, is the plan to get the province back to balanced budgets, so “investments that people of Saskatchewan can expect” such as in education and health care can be sustainable.
While remaining committed to that plan, Moe also made a major policy announcement earlier in the week to restore the PST exemption to insurance products such as life insurance, health insurance, crop insurance and hail insurance.
That exemption had been removed in the spring budget. Moe is one of a growing number of Sask Party leadership contenders who are calling for that exemption to be reinstated.
His second theme is centred on continued support for communities and families across the province, whether it is investment in health care, education facilities, or directly to families that need that support. The intention is to release details on those policy ideas later in the campaign.
Finally, Moe is expressing support for “standing for businesses and industries” that employ people in communities across the province.
“We’ll stand with them when needed, such as the case with the carbon tax, but we’ll also advocate on their behalf,” he said, pointing to his policy for a Ministry of Export and Trade to “enhance those exports and opportunities.”
The issue of the Global Transportation Hub continues to be a hot one. While some other candidates have called for a full public inquiry, Moe supports allowing the RCMP to finish their investigation and “respect the work that they’re doing, and then make a decision at that point in time if further action is required.”
Moe continues to criss-cross the province as he seeks the party leadership. Prior to the Battlefords event Moe had been to Regina and Saskatoon, and he had stopped in Melfort earlier in the day. His campaign was scheduled to head to Rosetown immediately after the Battlefords event.
The Rosthern-Shellbrook MLA has welcomed the chance to meet with Sask Party supporters and talk about the issues in the runup to the Jan. 27 vote.
“It’s been fabulous,” said Moe. “To sit down and have discussions with people across this province, from communities across this province … and to have very frank discussion with them about how they envision their community out to the year 2030, how they envision their province out to the year 2030, what they see that looking like relative to today. But also to discuss with them the growth that we’ve had in our communities, our industries and our province in the last decade.”
Moe is looking forward as well to the upcoming leadership debates which will include one in North Battleford on Nov. 16.
