The final day of the fall sitting of the legislature was a historic one as Premier Brad Wall said goodbye.
It was his last day in the legislature after 10 years as Premier and 18 years as the Member for Swift Current.
Wall’s seatmate, Deputy Premier Don Morgan, led off tributes from both sides of the political aisle. What follows are a portion of those remarks from the final day, as recorded in Hansard.
Don Morgan, Deputy Premier:
Brad, you will be missed. Every one of us regards Brad as a friend. To him I say, thank you; don’t be a stranger. To all of us, he has been not just a colleague, but also a friend. He knows who has health issues, who is dealing with aging parents, who is dealing with children. He cares and shows it. The incredible kindness and amazing statements following the deaths of MLAs Parent and Phillips demonstrate his humanity and how much he cares. His humour and kindness are special.
So from all of us, Mr. Premier — I can’t say Brad in here; I just can’t do it — we thank you. We wish you, Tami, and your family all the best. We hope that your remaining weeks as a lame-duck premier go well.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to move the motion: That the Legislative Assembly pay thanks and pay tribute to Brad Wall for his 18 years of service to the people of Saskatchewan as the member for Swift Current, as leader of the opposition, and as Premier, and for his many contributions to the people and province of Saskatchewan.
Opposition leader Nicole Sarauer:
Mr. Speaker, as I thought about what I would say today, how I would honour Mr. Wall, the Premier — the leader of a party of some ideals and beliefs against which I have worked so hard against, Mr. Speaker — I was looking for inspiration and I dug into Hansard and looked to see what he himself had said to honour the premiers who had come and gone before him. On Lorne Calvert’s last day in this place he was leader of the official opposition. The former member for Saskatoon Nutana moved a motion to honour his service, and not only did Mr. Wall stand to speak to that motion, he also seconded it.
Mr. Speaker, on that day he ended his remarks by speaking briefly of his son whose music career had not quite taken off yet; he was a little younger then. He spoke about Looney Tunes. He said one of his favourite cartoons was of Ralph the sheepdog and Sam the coyote. As you probably remember, Ralph and Sam would punch the clock in the morning, Sam would relentlessly to try to get a lamb, and Ralph would consistently stop him. This would go on until their workday would end and they would punch out together. At that point they would say, good night Ralph, good night Sam, and leave essentially as friends. Mr. Speaker, if I may, I will quote Mr. Wall’s own words in describing the relevance:
When this place is working right — and it doesn’t work right every day — when it’s working right, we go at it hammer and tong and we have debates and we disagree. But when it’s working right, we acknowledge the fact that we are all here for the same reason. We think maybe we ought to get to places a different way and maybe at a different speed. But we’re here for the same reason.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if every person who’s ever sat in these seats in this place have done so with nothing but the purest of intentions but I can tell you that whatever you want to say about Mr. Wall, he came here to serve.
Donna Harpauer, Minister of Finance:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am standing, I think, to give the perspective of the class of ’99. I too ran in the fall election, September 16th, 1999, the election that surprised the province. It shocked the NDP, and it resulted in a very rapidly put together coalition government. And among the founding members of the Sask Party there were 17 fresh, new, energetic, possibly very idealistic, new faces that came to the Assembly and among them was Brad Wall.
… An emergency session was called that fall, right away, soon after we were elected, because of the unrest in agriculture, Mr. Speaker. And session at that time was five days a week, it wasn’t four. And first and foremost, I was a mom of three young girls. So I was in a career that was over my head, was out of my comfort zone. Christmas is huge to me, and I’m in Regina, and I bought a tree. It was a little 4-inch Christmas tree. It sat on my desk. It was my Christmas pity tree. And I looked at it and I just felt sad and overwhelmed. And one time I went to my office, Mr. Speaker, and my pity tree was gone. And there was a little sticky note that said, crime scene. See, there was crime back then too.
And so I went looking for my little Christmas pity tree, and I found out where it was. Who does that? I mean who steals Christmas other than Scrooge? And so I just waited, bought some supplies, waited until Brad Wall was in the Assembly speaking to adjourned debates. And I completely took everything out of his office. I taped an outline for every book, every pen, for his TV, for all of his crazy Elvis paraphernalia. I removed everything. All that was left was a desk and a chair.
I outlined a dead body on the floor just like you do in crime movies. I had the crime tape, the yellow tape you put across — crime scene; do not enter. And I went back in the Assembly and just waited. And he never said a word. He never said a word. And a couple days later I heard him talking to some of the gang and he said, do not take on that woman unless you have a tag team because you will lose.
…Brad Wall told us he was leaving when we had a caucus retreat outside of Regina. It was really hard. And everybody lined up to say goodbye. I did not. I walked out. I just walked out and thought, I’m not saying goodbye. So I need to ground myself. So I did what I do to ground myself. I went to Toys“R”Us and spent a boatload of money on my grandkids. I felt marginally better. My grandkids wished he would have resigned earlier.
So you know, he will be missed. This province is better because of Brad Wall. Our party, our caucus is better because of Brad Wall. But I am better because of Brad Wall. And I wish I had my little 4-inch pity tree; I threw it out or I’d gift it to him today. Merry Christmas, Brad, and I wish you all the best.
Dustin Duncan, Minister of Environment:
So I’m looking forward to what’s next for you, and I’m going to be watching. We all will be watching. I’m going to be looking forward to the next successes of all of your family, all of your children. And I’m looking forward to the day where I will bring my two boys to this building and see your portrait unveiled. It’s going to be a special day.
So to you and to Tami from Psalm 20:4: “May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Premier Brad Wall:
Mr. Speaker, there’s a question that now is engraved in the cabinet room, in subtle letters just above the door, and it simply asks, “Did you leave things better than you found them?” I want to thank Steve Bata, who helped make that happen, and the building crew here.
… Mr. Speaker, did you leave things better than you found them? It is more than a cliché. It’s more than a rhetorical question, of course. It’s really kind of devoid of the temporal consideration. It’s devoid of a partisan consideration for the most part. And if it can be answered in the affirmative — yes, you left things better than you found them — then it has the potential to be transformational and generational.
If each generation of our people can answer yes to that question, if each iteration of this government, however it’s constituted, whoever sits in these chairs can say, yes, we left things better than we found them, well then we will always have progress in Saskatchewan. There will always be progress, the thing that we seek for our citizens. There will always be improved quality of life because different governments of different stripes will be able to say at the end of their time, or individuals at the end of their time, it ain’t perfect but, you know, I think it might be better than we found it. What we all want for this province is that it could live up to its motto and its creed. We want a quality of life for every citizen we represent…
I remember a story being told and sort of held up as the quintessential Saskatchewan story about a canoe race in northern Saskatchewan, where someone was leading the canoe race and felt bad because all the other canoes were behind, and kind of stopped and waited for everyone to join them so they could all finish second together.
Well with great respect, Mr. Speaker, that is not the quintessential Saskatchewan story, because my dad raised me, taught . . . My mom and dad raised me to know that it’s okay to win. Do it with grace. Do it with honour. Do it in a way so that if you have won, you can maybe benefit others and share in whatever dividends come from that. But it’s okay to win. And that’s the attitude change that’s happened in this province…
So all of this brings me to another and final transactional moment, Mr. Speaker. When I give up the title as MLA for Swift Current, first made formal by your predecessor 18 years and one day ago, or the other title that I gained 10 years and one month to the day ago, and I exchange them for just Brad, with no need to share it with any office or title. Just Brad, the grandson of Peter and Elizabeth Wall and Jacob and Tina Schmidt; just Brad, the proud and very thankful son of John and Alice Wall; the profoundly and immensely proud dad of Megan and Colter and Faith; just Brad, the unworthy husband of the amazing Tami Wall.
And as it was 18 years ago, I want this trade. I am grateful for it, and I’m excited by the prospects that will follow. I am profoundly grateful for what I give up in the transaction today, but I’m even more grateful for what I get back. And of this, Mr. Speaker, you can have blessed assurance: as for either side of this transaction, what I might give up and what I know that I gain, I have not and I still do not deserve any of it. Thank you.
A few minutes later, Wall made the last remarks recorded in Hansard of his legislative career.
Hon. Mr. Wall: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the House Leader who has allowed me to move the adjournment.
And just before I do, I forgot in part of my remarks to thank members opposite as I was litigating the case. Because I think to the extent there have been successes in the province that emanate from this room, it’s been because of the work of all, and being pushed, frankly, in the appropriate direction. And I failed to mention that, and it’s a point that I need to put on the record. So I’ve done that.
And thanks to the House Leader for allowing me to move that this House do now adjourn.
