Sask. Party leadership rivals likely to find spot in Scott Moe's new cabinet, experts say

On Friday, Scott Moe will lose the "designate" from his title and officially be sworn in as Saskatchewan's premier. Things start to get interesting after that, as his cabinet will be revealed as well.

"Cabinet-making is a very complicated task," said Tom McIntosh, the head of political studies at the University of Regina, likening the process to building an actual wooden cabinet.

"[The premier] gets to build the cabinet themselves but they don't get to pick the wood. They get what they get in terms of their caucus and they have to make the best of that."

McIntosh said all of the Sask. Party leadership candidates who believed they could win would have spent time considering cabinet choices.

Thirteen of the 16 current cabinet ministers backed Moe's leadership bid, as did Jeremy Harrison, who left his cabinet position before the last shuffle for a short-lived run for leader. In all, Moe had the support of 23 of his colleagues in the Saskatchewan Party caucus.

But McIntosh doesn't think expanding the cabinet is an option for Moe.

"I think he's stuck with keeping the cabinet at the same [size] it was. I don't think you can preach austerity while you expand the size of your provincial cabinet to accommodate your supporters."

Complicating the choice for Moe is the fact three of the MLAs he defeated are ex-cabinet ministers themselves — Ken Cheveldayoff, Gord Wyant and Tina Beaudry-Mellor.

"The three ministers who ran against him are likely to be back in cabinet, in large part because he needs to heal the divisions in the party. They also represent important constituencies inside the party that need to have some presence around the cabinet table," McIntosh said.

'Back to the future'

Political scientist Ken Rasmussen also sees a role for the failed leadership hopefuls.

"Undoubtedly, there'll be some people that are disappointed but I don't think everybody supporting [Moe] was hoping to get a reward either," said Rasmussen, who teaches at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Regina.

"I think it will be back to the future. I think you'll see most of the people who ran against him find a way into the cabinet. He'll need to keep Tina and Gord to remind voters that it's still a big-tent party, or create the impression that it's a big-tent party."

Eyre out?

In order to move MLAs into cabinet, some will have to relinquish their portfolios. Both McIntosh and Rasmussen think Minister of Education Bronwyn Eyre may move seats at the table.

"Whether one agrees or disagrees with what she's done, I think it's fair to say she lost the confidence of her constituency — that is, the education sector. It makes it that much harder as a minister if the people you are overseeing don't have any confidence in you," McIntosh said.

"The last thing the new premier needs is a controversial cabinet minister who doesn't seem to really understand how to effectively be a cabinet minister," said Rasmussen.

"I suspect they'll shuffle her aside to large relief, particularly to the teachers."