After a year of uncertainty around the world, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe believes 2023 went better than other provinces, with efforts to make energy affordable and parental rights a priority. It points to legislative efforts such as a code of chapters.
Mr. Moe spoke with CTV News’ Lee Jones in a 20-minute year-in-review special that will air on CTV News Regina and Saskatoon on Dec. 27 at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. A preview of this interview can be viewed using the video player at the top of this article.
fighting the federal government
2023 was marked by a number of jurisdictional disputes between Saskatchewan and the federal government, primarily regarding environmental regulations.
“There are five regulations they have proposed: a carbon tax, a clean fuel standard, a clean electricity standard, as well as the COP.[28] The week started and we had the methane cap and cap-and-trade,” Moe explained. “No other oil industry in the world has such a regulatory burden.”
Disagreements intensified later this year, when the Saskatchewan government introduced legislation to stop collecting carbon taxes on natural gas used for home heating, following the federal government’s exemption for home heating oil.
“We made the exact same decision as the federal government. We asked them to do the right thing and treat all families in Canada equally,” Moe said.
Saskatchewan has since expanded its tax refusal to include electric heating.
“This is where we have disagreements with the federal government and each of their regulatory processes,” Moe said. “It’s unfortunate that many of the federal government’s initiatives end up being challenged in court. Many of them end up fighting over who has the constitutional jurisdiction to do what they intend to do. It will be.”
pronoun policy
One of the most controversial issues on the floor of this year’s Saskatchewan Legislature was the province’s pronoun policy, which ultimately became law.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights requires students under 16 to notify and obtain permission from their parents or guardians if they wish to use different pronouns or names at school. It also prohibits third-party sex education groups from entering classrooms and requires schools to display Saskatchewan’s official provincial flag.
The Saskatchewan NDP opposes the bill’s passage, arguing it is a direct response to the Saskatchewan United Party’s second-place finish in the Lumsden-Morse by-election.
Moe insists that the decisions leading up to the bill’s passage were “more about policy than politics.”
“This has pretty much been the status quo in classrooms in this state throughout history, through the policies of many departments,” he says. “What we saw was governments deviating from that by one school district and then standardizing that policy as the status quo policy across the district.”
Moe insisted the policy is consistent with what members of the government have been hearing from parents across the state.
“[The] “That’s because our MLAs have been hearing from parents across this state in their constituency offices and through the outreach efforts they have participated in,” he said.
In explaining the rationale for this policy, Moe noted that the law outlines steps that focus on building support around any child who may be at risk. emphasized.
“If for any reason the child is in actual danger, there are also procedures in place to protect that child through the school, which may be enacted as necessary,” he explained. .
“The focus of this policy was to provide parents with the right to be involved in their children’s education. However, with or without that policy, children today still need support in a variety of ways. Please understand that these procedures are in place in our schools as well.”
Necessary actions regarding medical care
Healthcare was a big topic in 2023.Wait times, critical care bypass, EMS availability, and overcrowding It serves as just one part of the discussion about the current state of Saskatchewan’s health care system.
Saskatchewan isn’t alone in its struggle, as health-care providers across Canada are currently facing staffing shortages.
Mr Mo defended the government’s response in terms of the amount invested and the plans developed, but also acknowledged that more needs to be done and it must be done at a faster pace.
“As we have talked about many times, we have the most ambitious healthcare workforce recruitment and retention plan in the country. But we continue to see results and results in our healthcare system. And yet it’s not happening fast enough,” he said.
“We have hired 800 new nursing graduates, 500 of them from overseas. But we have not seen it quickly enough to bring back all the services we are providing. It’s not progressing.”
Current capacity issues are causing the state to send patients out of state for procedures such as knee and hip surgeries and mammograms.
“Where you can reduce your wait times when purchasing private services in other provinces. Will it cost more? Is it a higher investment? Yes. Saskatchewan residents can get the care and diagnosis they need faster. Can I take it? Yes,” Mo said.
“We’re going to do that because at the end of the day, our focus is building public health services within the state. [also] Our aim is to deliver the necessary services as quickly as possible to the people who need them now. ”
Saskatchewan ended 2023 addressing emergency room overcrowding in both Regina and Regina. Saskatoon.
In the interview, Moe also discussed the province’s projected deficit due to drought, Saskatchewan’s attendance at COP28 and the ongoing teacher contract dispute.
What will happen in 2024 is that Saskatchewan will have to hold a provincial election by October 28th.
You can hear Moe’s full interview on CTV News Regina and Saskatoon on Dec. 27 at 12:30pm and 6:30pm.
