It is never easy being a politician, but Scott Moe seems to be on top of his game.
According to a new Angus Reid poll, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe sits atop the premier approval leaderboard across Canada.
Approximately three in five people in Saskatchewan have a positive view of Moe’s performance, giving him a 57-per cent approval rate.
“What it shows more than anything else is that Saskatchewan has become and has entrenched its role as sort of the heartland of the small C conservative movement in Canada,” said Ken Coates, a public policy professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
“This is a result that must make the Saskatchewan Party extremely happy,” he explained. “It shows that their message is getting through very strongly in the province of Saskatchewan and it would distress the Sask. NDP no end.”
Over the last few months, Moe has put a focus on the province’s future in energy, deciding to go against the federal mandate of net-zero emissions by 2035.
“We will not sacrifice the reliability and affordability of Saskatchewan’s power grid to meet some notional target that isn’t achievable,” Moe said in a recent interview, where he outlined the future of Saskatchewan energy sector.
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Coates said the focus on going against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is something that certainly earns Moe support in Saskatchewan.
“The anger is actually much greater and deeper than people think,” Coates said. “And when the new carbon tax really takes hold and takes a bite out of your pocketbook, people will be more upset. Quite frankly, if Scott Moe wasn’t standing up, the people would be demanding it.”
Moe may be the most popular premier, but he will need to rebuild parts of his party for next year’s election as a number of Sask. Party MLA’s have announced they will not be running, including Yorkton MLA Greg Ottenbreit and Kindersley MLA Ken Francis.
The Sask. NDP will also have work to do, as MLAs such as Jennifer Bowes and Doyle Vermette are moving on to other opportunities.
But for Coates, he said the introduction of new people into politics is a plus for the province.
“You’ve got a province who’s got good resource potential, great future opportunities… you should be able to attract absolutely top-notch people to become members of the Legislative Assembly,” Coates said.
And while Moe’s premier approval remains at the top nationwide, the ratings fall well short of his highest approval rates which came in 2019 and 2020 when it was 65 per cent.
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