REGINA – The new and returning members of the Saskatchewan Legislature were officially sworn into office Thursday.
The new Legislature includes 34 Saskatchewan Party MLAs and 27 New Democrats. The expanded NDP caucus, which includes 15 new caucus members, was sworn in Thursday afternoon and took their seats inside the Legislative Assembly chamber, with friends and family in attendance.
Opposition Leader Carla Beck was excited to get things moving with the new caucus.
“I can’t say enough about this crew behind me,” she told reporters.
“These are people that, first of all, know who they work for, whose interests they work for — the people of this province, and I know that to a person on this team. I also know that this is an incredibly talented group of new MLAs, people who have been leaders in their community prior to entering into politics, people who have been advocating and working for better change for Saskatchewan people long before they wrote their name in that book today…
“This is a team, as I said, that has hit the ground running. They did that during the campaign. They haven’t stopped. I don’t know if any of them have taken a breath or a break. They are eager to be ready to go on Monday to deliver for Saskatchewan people, and as I said today, you know, Scott Moe and the Sask Party aren’t going to know what hit them. This is a team that is going to come in and, you know, press the government on the things that Saskatchewan people want them to be talking about.”
It was a similar story for the Saskatchewan Party MLAs who were sworn in that morning. Included in Premier Scott Moe’s new caucus are 16 brand-new Sask Party MLAs.
“Yeah, it’s an exciting time, particularly for new MLAs,” was the reaction of Government House Leader and new Minister of Justice and Attorney General Tim McLeod.
“It’s an extreme honour to serve in this building, whether you’re a new member or a returning member, and a day like today when all of the members on both sides of the house get to be sworn in and have their families and friends present, it’s an exciting day.”
While Thursday marked the official swearing-in ceremonies, all the elected MLAs were already hard at work prior to officially taking their oaths, having already attended their first caucus meetings for their respective parties at the Legislature. Premier Moe’s cabinet had been sworn in at Government House a couple of weeks ago, with all of the ministers being new to their portfolios. The NDP announced their Shadow Cabinet last week.
Urban – rural split still a concern
A challenge for both caucuses is navigating an obvious urban-rural split based on the election results.
Most of the NDP MLAs represent Saskatoon and Regina, except the two Northern seats. Meanwhile, all Sask Party MLAs except for Saskatoon Willowgrove’s Ken Cheveldayoff represent areas located outside the two major cities.
“I’m not sure that I would accept that there is a rural-urban divide,” said McLeod. “I think in the two largest cities, we saw many voters supporting both parties. And you’ve got to remember that our province has more than just two cities, and the Saskatchewan Party is represented in all of the other cities. So, there is a healthy mix of urban and rural, and particularly at the Sask Party Caucus, we have members both from rural and urban. But again, we’re governing to the entire province.”
McLeod also pointed out that many of the seats the NDP had won in the cities “were won by just a few hundred votes, which means that there’s a large contingent of people in both of those cities that are supporting the Saskatchewan Party, and the NDP have slightly more in those ridings…
“But as the Premier said, we are going to be delivering a government that listens to all people of the province, not just one side or the other.”
Beck was also asked about the urban-rural split and indicated her party planned to represent the concerns of all Saskatchewan people.
“What we did see in this campaign, and I spoke about it here today, is that the issues that are most important to Saskatchewan people —and we’ve heard this from this crew that’s been around the province but also our candidates out there on the doorsteps —- that those concerns really do exist in all areas of the province. I’ve always believed, and we talked about this during the campaign — if you go looking for differences, you certainly will find them, and there are differences from community to community.
“But if you are looking to represent that common ground and the things that really Saskatchewan people are staying up at night worrying about, that they’re going to be talking about with their family around the Christmas table, those concerns are present in every area of the province. We’re going to continue to focus on the priorities of Saskatchewan people, and you’ll see us out on the road, we’ll continue to be out on the road in communities right across this province.
Beck also acknowledged that “people are looking for change, but also they’ve told us that we’ve got more work to do. This is a team that is keen and eager to get in and do that work.”