Scott Moe: the conservative who began as a left-winger with a lights-out hockey shot

SHELLBROOK, Sask. — Scott Moe is the conservative premier who began life as a left-winger with a shot so hard, it was lights out — literally.

On this recent fall day, Moe stands among the seats at his hometown rink in Shellbrook, north of Saskatoon, and points to the spot on the ice where he was knocked out cold.

He was six years-old at the time, his first year in hockey. He slid into the net, injured himself and hasn’t been the same since.

“I still have a shoulder that doesn’t lift up,” Moe, 51, said in an interview.

His game is now politics and the provincial election campaign began Tuesday, with polling day on Oct. 28. Moe is seeking his second mandate after spending nearly 13 years in government, six of those as premier.

But long before politics, there was hockey.

Moe grew up loving the sport, labelling himself an average player, who began on the left wing but got moved to defence. He won a provincial title in his teens.

He wasn’t quick, but he could fire the puck, a skill forged through hours of blasting away in his family’s unfinished basement.

He used electrical outlets as targets — and quickly learned what happens when those targets break.

“All the lights go out in the house,” he said. “It was a learning experience for my father. And we very quickly agreed on getting a net.”

It was the game, but also the camaraderie.

“What I love most about it was the team and everybody finds their spot on it, the competition of it and working together to succeed,” he said.

Trevor Miller, who grew up with Moe in Shellbrook, said sports shaped his friend and helped him achieve success.

“I think he does it in a way that’s best for everybody,” Miller said.

At the rink, Miller said, Moe was the team’s glue.

“I wasn’t the guy that was on the power play lots, but Scott would always be there and tell you, ‘You’re part of this team,’” he said.

Moe grew up the oldest of five in a community-minded farm family. He began his work life selling agriculture equipment and owning gas stations. He and his wife Krista co-own a pharmacy.

They married in the early 1990s and attended the University of Saskatchewan. He received a degree in agriculture, and she in pharmacy. They have two children: Carter and Taryn.

Before he was 30, Moe made some life-altering mistakes.

In 1997, he crashed his car into another after not stopping at a highway intersection, killing Jo-Anne Balog. Balog’s teen son survived the crash, and Moe apologized to him four years ago.

Amund Otterson, the mayor of Shellbrook, recalled Moe getting emotional at a news conference to announce the completion of a twinning project for the highway between Shellbrook and Prince Albert. A child and a man were killed in a car crash there.

“You could really see the compassion he has for people,” he said.

Moe’s interest in politics began while living in Vermilion, Alta., in his early adult life.

Alberta was booming, while Saskatchewan was not, Moe has said. And that’s when he knew policies could change communities.

Moe returned to Saskatchewan in 2003 and became a member of the Saskatchewan Party. He has represented Rosthern-Shellbrook since 2011.

In 2018, after former premier Brad Wall announced his retirement, Moe entered the leadership race and won with a large backing from caucus. He won his first public mandate in 2020.

Moe’s time as premier has come with challenges, beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic.

He mandated some rules, but public health experts described the measures as lax. He also faced pressure not to impose restrictions at all. In February 2022, when the “Freedom Convoy” blockaded Ottawa, Moe lifted all measures in the province.

There were caucus problems: criminal charges against two members along with retirements and rebuffs that have reduced his governing majority from 48 to 42 in the 61-seat legislature.

Saskatchewan has also struggled with patients waiting longer for health care. School classrooms are overcrowded and inflationary pressures have squeezed wallets.

Moe said he’s addressing these issues by hiring additional health workers, opening health centres and spending more on education.

His administration also stopped paying the federal carbon levy on home heating, a move Moe says has saved people money.

“There’s been times where we’ve had to be fairly firm and stand our ground on behalf of Saskatchewan residents,” he said.

“But I actually view the opportunity that we have over the course of the next four years as one of greater collaboration and coming together, rather than defend what we have and what we’re trying to do.”

And there is still hockey. Moe roots for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. His family has a tradition of playing a game at a rink every Christmas.

Moe admits that while Father Time has sapped some of his skills at the ice rink, it has honed them in the political arena.

“I went from being maybe one of the stronger players on the ice to certainly being one of the weaker players,” he said. “But I can still talk my way through.

“Politics,” he laughed, “has ruined my (hockey) career.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press