Scott Moe

On October 3, 2016, while provincial Environment Ministers were meeting with Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna to work on an agreement to reduce emissions as a collective nation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons to announce the federal government's plan to introduce a carbon tax for provinces that did not have one. Moe and two other Ministers walk out of the meeting with the Federal Environment Minister, describing the federal government's actions a reminiscent of a 'national energy program 2.0.'[13] Observers and pundits in the province have called the carbon tax "his issue from the beginning", pointing out the Premier is largely on-side with public opinion in Saskatchewan, where polls have placed opposition against the tax as high as 88%.[14][15]

While he was Minister of the Environment and responsible for the Water Security Agency, Moe met with a fellow Saskatchewan Party Member of the Legislative Assembly, Bill Boyd, regarding Boyd's personal irrigation projects. The projects were reviewed by Moe, and later found to have illegally cultivated protected grasslands and involved building irrigation infrastructure into a river without obtaining the proper licensing permits. Regarding the process, Moe commented that he did not discuss the matter with Boyd after he was made aware that the project was in contravention of the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act, but that "There was a failure in following the law."[16] When asked about specifics of the meeting with Boyd, such as where it was, when it was, who all attended, if there was a record of the meeting, or how it came about, Moe said he could not recall or did not know.[17] Boyd was fined a total of $35,000 in relation to two charges laid in 2017 and ordered to remediate the shoreline violation. He was also removed from the Saskatchewan Party caucus by then-premier Brad Wall over the matter, and eventually resigned his position as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

On September 1, 2017, Moe formally launched his campaign for the leadership of the Saskatchewan Party with the backing of 21 cabinet and caucus members, primarily from rural Saskatchewan.[18]

Moe's campaign promises focused on restoring $30 million in education funding to Saskatchewan schools, as well as the PST on health, life, and accident insurance products,[19] and a renewed focus on trade and exports Saskatchewan undertakes with customers around the world.[20]

During his campaign, Moe stated that he does not personally support abortion, and that he would support a discussion of parental notification and parental consent for women to have an abortion.[21] In an interview with the anti-abortion group Right Now, Moe suggested he would be open to legislation to limit the time frame in which a woman could have an abortion.[22]

On January 27, 2018, he was elected the new leader of the Saskatchewan Party, beating Alanna Koch with 54%, or 8075 of 14,989 votes, on the fifth ballot.[23]

Moe with Andrew Scheer in November 2019.

Moe was sworn in as premier and appointed his first Cabinet on February 2, 2018.[24]

100 days after being sworn-in as Premier, Moe restored $30 million in education funding to classrooms, as well as the PST exemption on life, health, and accident insurance products. Moe has also followed former Premier Brad Wall in opposing a federal carbon tax, citing Saskatchewan's environmental policies in sectors such as agriculture.[25]

Moe has also been an advocate for getting pipelines built. He supported legislation to "turn off the taps" for oil to British Columbia for their opposition to pipeline construction, and has also publicly called on the federal government to restrict infrastructure funding to provinces that oppose federally-approved and regulated pipelines that cross provincial borders.[26]

Moe has made trade with other nations a focus of his government, replacing the Ministry of the Economy with the Ministry of Trade and Export Development, and has undertaken a number of international trade missions. Those missions include travel to Saskatchewan's largest trading partner, the United States, to meet with Senators, Congressmen, and members of President Donald Trump's cabinet,[27] a mission to China, Saskatchewan's second-largest trading partner,[28] a mission to India, Saskatchewan's third-largest trade market,[29] and a mission in October 2019 to Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong.[30]

In the 2020 provincial election, the Saskatchewan Party under Moe was re-elected to its fourth majority government.