Hromek just quit as leader of Sask United Party, and Moe hasn’t said he’s going anywhere

By Brian Zinchuk

REGINA – Jon Hromek, who just a few days earlier on Dec. 31 announced his resignation as leader of the upstart Saskatchewan United Party, has thrown his hat in the ring for potential leadership of the Saskatchewan Party. However, there’s no ring, just yet, for that hat to be cast into.

In late October, Premier Scott Moe led the Saskatchewan Party to a historic fifth mandate in government, and the second election won under his leadership. While it was a reduced majority, it was very much a majority. And in that election, the Sask United Party campaigned on the basis that the Saskatchewan Party had in many ways lost its way and shifted too far to the left.

Saskatchewan United Party Leader Jon Hromek on Oct. 2 in Regina. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

The Sask United failed to win any seats, winning 3.9 per cent of the provincial vote. That includes Hromek’s attempt to win Lumsden-Morse, where he placed third.

There’s historical precedent that few premiers in Canada remain in office longer than 10 years, either leaving on their own accord, as Brad Wall did, or through electoral defeat. As this February marks seven years for Moe’s premiership, that 10 years is coming up soon. While there’s no hard and fast rule about 10 years, nor has Moe indicated he was going anywhere, the questions that have been arising in political circles is if, and when, Moe might decide to step down as leader? Will it happen within the next four years? If so, when? And if so, who would be running for his replacement, both as party leader and as premier?

Hromek, who has been CEO of two oil companies, opened the door to a potential leadership race on Friday, Dec. 3, in his discussion with CJME/CKOM’s Evan Bray.

Hromek told Bray, “The mechanics are in place for this year already. There’s going to be a leadership review. I mean, that’s up to the members of the Saskatchewan party to send that message there at the next AGM. But I mean, at the end of the day, it’s up to Premier Moe, if he if he’s done and if he wants to step down. If the opportunity arises, I would be very excited to put my name forward for that. I would be thrilled to serve in that position here in Saskatchewan.”

Asked if there was room for more than the Sask Party and NDP on the political landscape of the province, Hromek said he’d thought a lot about it, and that it could only be answered by which way the Sask Party goes.

Hromek said, “I firmly believe that if the Sask Party goes back to its roots, back to just being a true centre-right party, from the people that I’ve talked to right across this province, they would view that as, why would we need another party?

“The Sask Party has been a naturally governing party in Saskatchewan for, you know, for quite some time. And you know, as long as they stay true to their word. I remember when Brad Wall used to say all the time, you know, a promise given, is a promise kept. And we need to get back to that and do that and execute and deliver for the people. If you deliver for the people, what you say you’re going to, I don’t necessarily see room for a third party.”

As for the cities having voted NDP in the last election, Hromek said, “Saskatchewan is the most conservative province federally, per capita. So we see that overwhelmingly every federal election.

“I honestly believe that there is a place that if the Sask Party returned back to its roots, where it’s centre, but it’s centre-right, and it’s a party of the people that that appealed to both urban and rural. Because remember, Brad Wall won a lot of seats in urban Saskatchewan, right? And we can return to that. Because what we, what I see, is, you know, good policy is good policy is good policy. And you know what? What we’re facing right now, we’ve got issues in health care, we’ve got issues in education, infrastructure spending, different things like that, like this. It doesn’t matter if you’re centre, or centre-right, that appeals to people, and that’s what I’ve heard right across this province and talking to people.”

He added, “What we have seen in talking to people, is a lot of people in the cities voted NDP because they were so dissatisfied with the direction that the Sask Party is going.”

He noted, “We can’t underestimate the appetite for change that Saskatchewan people have both rurally and urbanly, and that’s why we need a leader to come in. We need leadership to come in and truly unify. Because, I mean, it’s dangerous to get to a place where it’s urban versus rural. We need a unification. Yes, I’m centre-right, there’s no doubt about it, but I think that that we can encompass with good policy, a lot of things.”

Earlier in the interview, he said that his decision to step away from the Sask United Party was 100 per cent his decision, and that, “the whole reason I got into politics, originally, was because I had felt that my historical party, the Sask Party, wasn’t representing me anymore, and it took a long time for me to even jump into politics. I come from the oil business. I’m a business guy, so I take my decisions very seriously, and I take time to make them. So this was my decision, 100 per cent my decision and that’s what it was.”

He said the future of the Sask United Party was up to the party’s executive committee, as he had stepped away completely.