Saskatchewan’s population has dropped for the first time since the Saskatchewan Party assumed office in 2007.

Statistics Canada says in the second quarter of the year that the population of the province fell by nearly 1000 during the second quarter with almost 2,900 people leaving Saskatchewan.  It means the provincial population now stands at 1,178,861.

The numbers drew the interest of both Scott Moe and Ryan Meili on the campaign trail Wednesday.

Moe said you can expect “ups and downs” in the data but the bottom line is that the outlook for the province is solid and that is proven by the fact Saskatchewan has the lowest unemployment rate in Canada.

Meili and the NDP sent out a release with the data from Stats Canada in it saying they wanted to make sure “Scott Moe was in the know” and that there is a reason why Saskatchewan’s population is falling which is the fact that the economic opportunity that the government is preaching is simply not there.