Premier Brad Wall looks to 2018 with excitement, trepidation

It truly is a new beginning for Brad Wall in 2018.

As he has joked in the past, he will return to being “just Brad from Swift Current” at the end of the month. Jan. 27 will be his last day as premier of Saskatchewan.

Calling the role, “the honour of my working life”, Wall is looking forward to what lies ahead, albeit with some trepidation. He doesn’t know what he will do next.

“I have no idea, I really don’t. When you jump out of this airplane as I did in August, you can’t pull any ripcord,” Wall said.

While he noted that he has been asked if he would be interested in different careers, he can’t even have those conversations because it could pose a conflict of interest.

“What if that company is vested in this province and what happens if a decision comes across the cabinet table related to that company or they are thinking of investing,” he explained.

“I have thought about things I would like to do if I had the opportunity but I have no idea whether there will be any interest from those who might be able to offer that opportunity.”

After Jan. 27, Wall plans to first take some time for himself and family and will not rush into any decision.

“This is a strange job, it is the best job, but it is different in terms of the 24/7 news cycle and social media, and I am the type of person who worries about things I can’t change and so you never stop really thinking about it,” Wall explained.

“None of this is a complaint by the way because like I say it is the best job I’ll ever have but I think I need to cycle down a bit before I think about whatever’s next.”

Perhaps it is a little easier for Wall to think about what he doesn’t want to do. He said he wants to take a break and step back from politics and policy work.

Travelling is on his to do list. Wall has been more fortunate than many because the role of premier has taken him across Canada and around the world. His passport has stamps from most of south-east Asia so that is off the bucket list. Italy is somewhere he would like to go to with his wife Tami and other parts of Europe.

“I would like to go to Israel. I have a real interest in the history of that part of the world,” Wall said.

As Wall contemplates what lies ahead in 2018, this chapter of his life is somewhat unwritten and he thinks he might like it that way.

“It surprises me even because I am the type of person that would want to know. Not knowing what I’m going to should bother me more than it does, but it doesn’t.”