Scott Moe

Scott Moe (born July 31, 1973) is a Canadian politician serving as the 15th and current premier of Saskatchewan since February 2, 2018. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for the riding of Rosthern-Shellbrook, first elected in 2011. He served in the Saskatchewan Party cabinet from 2014 to 2017 under the premiership of Brad Wall, twice as minister of environment and also as minister of advanced education. In January 2018 he was chosen to succeed Wall as leader of the Saskatchewan Party. He led the party to a fourth consecutive majority mandate in the 2020 provincial election. Since becoming Premier, Moe has consistently been ranked among the most popular first ministers in the country. His tenure has been defined by an adversarial relationship with the federal government, including a failed court challenge against federal carbon pricing, and calls for a re-set to provincial-federal relations and expanded powers for the province, such as in the realms of policing and taxation. Moe's time in office has also been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic. While Saskatchewan was one of the hardest hit provinces in Canada, Moe prioritized limiting public health measures throughout the pandemic, and twice made Saskatchewan the first province to lift its pandemic-related public health orders. With the rise of new populist conservative parties in the province since he became premier, commentators have noted that Moe has increasingly adopted right wing populist rhetoric. Early life Moe was born in Prince Albert, the eldest of five children, and raised on a farm near Shellbrook. After high school he briefly moved to Yellowknife before returning to Saskatchewan and attending the University of Saskatchewan. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in agriculture. In the mid-1990s, while still attending university, Moe and his wife established a farming business, buying equipment and renting land. By early 2000, Moe had filed for bankruptcy with $208,500 in assets and $320,900 in liabilities. He has also owned gas stations and a pharmacy. After the bankruptcy, Moe moved to Vermilion, Alberta, where he worked selling farm equipment.