Sask. legislative session to start Monday with the most Opposition members in more than 15 years

The new session of the Saskatchewan legislative assembly begins Monday with the election of a new Speaker and the government's throne speech, which will outline its priorities.

For the first time in more than 15 years, an Opposition party will have a significant number of seats in the House.

The NDP Opposition has 27 MLAs, 13 more than it did when the spring sitting ended.

It also has 25 of the 26 MLAs representing Regina and Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party government represents the entire southern and central part of the province, outside of those 25 city seats. 

It is a new dynamic for a Premier Scott Moe.

New government House leader, Minister of Justice and Attorney General Tim McLeod spoke about the government's mandate on Thursday.

"We want to get right to business. There are a lot of important pieces of legislation that we're going to introduce to focus on the campaign commitments that we made with regard to the affordability of health care, education and community safety. We're anxious to start going to work for the people of Saskatchewan."

McLeod mentioned a few specific affordability commitments that folks can look forward to, including the active families benefit, support for people with disabilities and their caregivers, and raising the limits on personal income tax.

Some specifics will be revealed in the throne speech on Monday afternoon.

McLeod was also asked about the stark urban-rural split.

"The two largest cities certainly have the majority of members sitting on the NDP [side]. But remember that many of those seats were won by just a few hundred votes, which means there's a large contingent of people in both of those cities that are supporting the Saskatchewan Party."

There were 20 where the winner took more than 65 per cent of the vote. The Saskatchewan Party won 17 of those races. 

Its overall vote share dropped to 52 per cent in 2024 from 61 per cent in 2020, while the NDP increased its share to 40 per cent in 2024 from 31 per cent in 2020.