Defining moments of Wall’s legacy
Premier Brad Wall did a lot over his years in office. Here are some of his defining moments:
THE UKRAINIAN IMPRESSION
In April 2008, less than one year after forming the Saskatchewan Party’s first government, Premier Brad Wall found himself apologizing after a dated video of a young Wall emerged in which he was seen and heard mimicking a Ukrainian accent.
PRIVATIZATION
Wall is a political child of Grant Devine’s Conservatives, who privatized a number of services and companies. It was a theme that started early in his tenure and continued throughout. The Sask. Party under Wall privatized liquor stores, the Saskatchewan Communications Network, Information Services Corp., the Saskatchewan Transportation Company and others, such as cleaning and laundry services in government buildings.
MASSIVE VICTORIES
When first elected as premier, Wall won 38 of 58 seats — a sizable majority. But the consistently popular premier bucked a common political trend by continuously growing, rather than shrinking, his majority in the next two elections. Under his leadership, the Sask. Party achieved the two highest vote totals (64.25 per cent in 2011 and 62.36 per cent in 2016) in Saskatchewan’s history.
DEFENDING POTASHCORP
In what many point to as his defining moment, Wall fought hard against BHP Billiton’s attempted takeover of Saskatoon-based PotashCorp. Over several months in 2010, Wall lobbied the federal Conservative government to block the bid, and found himself successful in the end.
REGIONAL SQUABBLES
Even in his final week as premier, Wall remained engaged in a war of words with a regional foe. In this instance, it was the NDP Alberta government over out-of-province workers on government jobs. But Wall has squabbled with pipeline protesters, which included intervening in a British Columbia city’s attempt to block the movement of oil and engaging in a heated back and forth with Montreal’s former mayor. Claiming he is looking out for the interests of Saskatchewan people, he has also been arguably the staunchest opponent of the federal government’s carbon tax.
RESPONSE TO COLTEN BOUSHIE SHOOTING
Racism was rampant on social media accounts belonging to Saskatchewan residents in August 2016 following the shooting death of a young Aboriginal man, Colten Boushie. In a lengthy and widely spread message to residents, Wall called for an end to the racist comments and for cooler heads to prevail.