Sask. legislators prepare for shortened fall sitting, throne speech

When she walked into the House on Thursday and saw the new configuration of seats — with nearly half on the Opposition side of the room — Carla Beck, leader of the Saskatchewan NDP, said she felt a little emotional.

“I’m not the mom of this crew behind us, but I feel incredibly proud of all of them anyway,” Beck said.

When the new session begins Monday, the NDP will have the largest number of MLAs it has had in the house in 17 years. Beck said the party’s expanded team is full of people who can dig in and understand Saskatchewan concerns and who also know where to find solutions.

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She said her MLAs are “people with a lot of experience in their communities, in their fields, who will also be helping us take that role on.”

Beck said it’s a talented group that is eager to get working.

“Many of these new MLAs have already been taking calls from constituents, concerns about health care, concerns about people not being able to pay their bills, concerns about crime, concerns about the economy, affordability and continued concerns about education,” Beck said.

And, the NDP leader said, her party is ready to press the government and make sure they’re talking in the house about those constituent concerns.

“Scott Moe and the Sask. Party aren’t going to know what hit them,” she said.

Beck said her party’s first order of business is to push the government to pause the 15-cent-a-litre gasoline tax.

She said the NDP is to introduce an emergency motion Tuesday that would call for a suspension of the gas tax by Wednesday.

“We’ve got to lower costs for people and we’ve got to lower them now,” Beck said in a statement.

“Families can’t wait until tax season next year. People voted for action and we aren’t going to waste a second.”

The Sask. Party government will set the legislative agenda for the shortened, two-week fall sitting, and that agenda will be laid out on Monday afternoon with the Speech from the Throne.

Premier Scott Moe has previously said two weeks will be enough time to present and pass the speech and also introduce legislation to make good on several campaign promises.

Tim McLeod, the new government house leader, said the priorities for the government include education, health care and community safety.

“We’ll be introducing the priority legislation, particularly on affordability, but we’ll be introducing the bills that would, ultimately, then be debated in the spring as well,” McLeod explained.

Government House Leader Tim McLeod says government is always willing to work with the opposition to find a way forward that’s best for the province. Nov. 21, 2024 (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

He wouldn’t say exactly what legislation will be introduced first.

Sixteen new members were sworn in on Thursday for the Sask. Party government, and McLeod said they were excited and wanted to get right to business.

“There’s a lot of important pieces of legislation that we’re going to introduce to focus on the campaign commitments that we’ve made with regard to affordability, with health care, education and community safety, and so we’re anxious to start going to work for the people of Saskatchewan,” he said.

After losing several seats in October’s election despite maintaining a majority, Moe spoke several times about change, saying people voted for his party, but they also voted for change. The premier committed his government to delivering both, and McLeod said that will come through in the sitting as people see the premier listen to Saskatchewan people.

“The ones who are supportive of what the government has been doing and the ones who are asking for some degree of change — the government is listening in both regards, and so adjusting course accordingly to make sure that we’re responding to the needs of the entire province and not just maybe the folks that voted one way or the other,” McLeod said.

The government house leader added that the government is always interested in working with the opposition to find a path forward that’s good for all of the province.

— with files from Canadian Press