RANGE OF REACTION
Business, political leaders discuss Wall’s impact
Premier Brad Wall’s decision to step down as leader of the Saskatchewan Party and retire from provincial politics came as a shock. In the hours after his announcement, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix spoke with some of the people who worked with the conservative politician during his time in office.
RALPH GOODALE Liberal MP for Regina-Wascana
Though Wall and Goodale have disagreed on policy issues over the last decade, Goodale said he has never doubted Wall’s “passionate commitment” to Saskatchewan.
Wall has picked fights with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on issues such as the federal carbon tax, but Goodale noted that he has worked with the federal government on others, including tax cuts to the middle class, water control projects, the Canada Pension Plan, the new health care accord, Canadian and Saskatchewan trade priorities, housing, infrastructure, childcare, science and innovation and grain transportation.
“It adds up quite literally to billions and billions of dollars for Saskatchewan,” Goodale said.
“Plus two major pipeline approvals that will bring tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment.”
JOANN JAFFE Member of Stop the Cuts, an advocacy group formed after the wildly unpopular 2017-18 budget.
Wall’s resignation is good news, but it’s not going to solve the problems he caused during his tenure as premier, Jaffe said.
“He’s really undermined a lot of what is strong about this province and he’s left us in a weaker position, it seems to me, without all of the possibilities that we had before he was in office as he’s getting rid of Crown corporations and he’s been giving breaks to corporations that haven’t actually done the kinds of things, made the kinds of investments, that he was leading us to believe would be made if they got the breaks.”
Jaffe said Wall will be remembered for his efforts to balance the books on the backs of those who can least afford it. “To me, the future is darker, actually, than it’s ever been,” she said.
TODD LEWIS President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan
Wall’s interest in and support for rural Saskatchewan, as well as his near-constant efforts to open new overseas markets, is part of the reason the province’s agriculture industry is stronger now than it was 10 years ago, according to Lewis, who farms southeast of Regina near Gray.
While it’s always possible to look back and identify mistakes or decisions that could have been better, there’s little question that Wall championed Saskatchewan agriculture — and was rewarded for it politically in rural areas, Lewis added.
“Mr. Wall would be a pretty good template for any politician of any political party anywhere in the country,” he said. “I think … he’s done a good job of representing Saskatchewan.”
DON MORGAN Saskatchewan Party MLA for Saskatoon Southeast
Wall’s retirement is a “huge loss” for the Saskatchewan Party and the province, says Morgan, who has worked with Wall since being elected in 2003. He said Wall was “always thinking about the big picture” and was particularly passionate about finding resources to bolster health care and support people with autism. He said Wall played a big role in making Saskatchewan the place to be instead of the place to be from and occasionally suffered from being too kind. “I think he worried too much about trying to make people happy. I think he was sometimes too much of a soft touch when sometimes we needed to take harder lines.”
NICOLE SARAUER Interim Leader of the Saskatchewan NDP
Wall’s decision to step down was not “overly surprising” given the reaction to “heartless cuts” in the government’s unpopular 2017-18 budget, Sarauer said. At the same time, the MLA for Regina Douglas Park continued, Wall’s resignation won’t change anything for the NDP as it continues to combat “the scandal, the waste and the mismanagement of this government.”
Asked about Wall’s legacy, Sarauer said his government’s introduction of the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability program was a high point. She added that Wall devoted decades of his life to politics — which inevitably takes dedication, and exacts a toll on friends and family — and that he should be thanked for his service.
SCOTT SAXBERG Crescent Point Energy Corp. President and CEO
Besides his obvious love of Saskatchewan, Wall helped companies like Crescent Point by providing the political stability needed to attract capital to the province, said Saxberg, who has helmed the Calgary-based company since 2001.
“His understanding of the economy and what drives success in the province and the policies he created have really helped us as a company.”
Last year, Crescent Point pledged to spend more than a quarter of its planned $1.45 billion 2017 capital budget in southwest Saskatchewan. Saxberg said Wall’s enthusiasm for attracting capital to the province extended into every facet of his government, and benefited a host of different industries.
SHAUN SEMPLE President of the Brandt Group of Companies
Wall’s greatest legacy will be his unlocking of the province’s manufacturing and natural resource potential, according to Semple, who heads the province’s largest privately-held company.
That, Semple said, resulted in an enormous demographic shift: Before Wall came to power, people left the province for opportunities in Alberta or elsewhere; over the last decade, they began coming back. At the same time, he said, Wall’s integrity caused people to believe in him, even if they didn’t believe in everything he and his government did.