REGINA – “Did you notice who that was?” said Brad Wall with a proud fatherly grin.
When the province’s 14th premier recently took the stage to speak on the final day of the Canada Farm Show in Regina, his son’s famous deep, gravelly baritone voice echoed throughout the hall.
“Would you like to make an official advertisement?” asked presenter Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel with a knowing smile.
“There was a young guy playing there named Colter Wall – thanks for the chance to promote him – because if you stream his stuff or buy a shirt or a mug, there’s a good chance you’re supporting his cow addiction, which benefits our yearling operation,” the elder Wall joked.
Since this was an informal coffee conversation anyway, Jolly-Nagel dispensed with a traditional introduction and asked Wall to introduce himself instead of giving him facts and figures about his career.
“I’d like to introduce myself as Tami’s husband and the father of Megan, Colter and Faith,” he began. “But I also want to say from the bottom of my heart and with my sincerest heart that I am the luckiest person you know. I am blessed. It obviously started with family first, but then I got to do my dream job for about 10 years.”
“If someone had told me back then that whatever I did after this job in politics, I would enjoy it just as much or even more, I wouldn’t have believed it, because it was my dream job. And that’s exactly what’s happening. So I’m very, very happy.”
Wall is currently a silent partner in his son Colter’s yearling operation and continues to work in the consulting business he founded immediately after his political career.
“Don’t play the banjo?” joked Jolly-Nagel.
“I only ever knew that one lick – that ‘Deliverance’ lick,” Wall replied, recalling the Riders’ 2013 Banjo Bowl loss (though the Green Machine dominated the Labor Day Classic that year and won a much bigger prize), which was somehow blamed entirely on a silly but presumptuous dig at the Bombers on video.
“At the end of the season, I was still hated for playing banjo and ruining their chances at the Banjo Bowl. I reminded them, ‘Well, we won the Grey Cup that year, 2013.’ It didn’t seem to matter. They were all still mad. I had people give me very creative instructions on what to do with my banjo!”
Within a short time, both Jolly-Nagel and Wall got down to business and addressed the difficult questions of the day, such as the question of what place the government really occupies in the spectrum of the agricultural industry.
“The role of government in agriculture, in my opinion, is twofold,” Wall said. “I think it is both defensive and offensive.”
He pointed to agricultural programs funded by all levels of government that protect the industry and ensure a level playing field worldwide. Turning to the offensive approach, Wall also pointed out that governments need to do more than just advocate for the industry.
“They should push back against those NGOs and other outside forces – and sometimes it’s other countries – that like to spread misinformation or tell pretty important and damaging lies about our sector,” Wall explained. “But then they should also encourage the development of new markets.”
Another interesting study aimed at defining the role of federal and provincial governments when speaking on behalf of agriculture.
“Whoever the federal government of Canada is, whoever the minister of agriculture is, they have to take care of everything,” Wall said. “They have to take care of every agricultural and food product that comes out of this country, and imagine the diversity of that task. I think the difference is that the provincial governments and our provincial government can focus on our agriculture. And I know that’s what they do when they’re negotiating our part of agricultural stability or when they’re at the negotiating table when we’re trying to develop new risk mitigation products and new crop insurance products. It’s about Saskatchewan.”
Agriculture today
For his perspective, Wall was asked about the role of agriculture today and the changing mindsets of producers.
“The role of agriculture now, perhaps more than ever, is for us to continue to find and use our voice,” he said. “Agriculture has always been a source of policy development. Even in this province, political parties have kind of grown out of agrarian movements. So I think there has always been a good and effective connection between farmers and policymaking. On all sides of the spectrum. So that needs to continue. And I’m not sure we all realize how important agriculture is.”
Wall emphasized the importance of a theme that was emphasized throughout the Canada Farm Show: telling our own story… before someone else does. As a prime example, he chose the cautionary tale of Canadian oil and how, in the space of 20 years, that product went from having a good reputation to being reviled around the world as “dirty oil.”
“How did this happen?” Wall asked. How did it happen that our oil is so stigmatized and we can’t build a pipeline in this country? Well, that’s actually happened. It’s definitely happened. Now we have a pipeline worth about $30 billion – it’s the only one we’re building. The government had to nationalize it. So is there a lesson for agriculture? Yes, there is.
“The NGOs that help market Canadian oil in this way don’t particularly like what we do in agriculture,” he continued. “If they don’t like modern agriculture, they have similar concerns that I don’t think are well founded. They’re not based on facts and they’re not coming from an environmental perspective, but we all know the attacks that agriculture is under in the name of climate change.”
To further prove his point—while providing a compelling example of how agriculture and the environment can go hand in hand—Wall used the example of switching from plastic to paper straws in the name of saving the oceans.
“You could easily argue that an ecosystem right on our doorstep is more at risk than some of the ocean ecosystems for which we are sacrificing the opportunity to drink a milkshake today,” he said. “And that is the grasslands.”
Some estimates suggest that only 14 percent of the province’s original grasslands remain, but even this seemingly tiny number has a huge impact: it is responsible for sequestering two million tons of carbon dioxide.
“If you’re concerned about an ecosystem, you should ask yourself how this grassland ecosystem is maintained. Well, there’s a reason for grass, and that’s to feed a cow,” Wall said, noting that cattle took over the role of grazers after the plains bison became almost extinct. “If you want to use a paper straw to save the ocean ecosystem, God bless you. If you want to save the grasslands, eat a burger.”
However, he noted that today’s generation of producers is much better at spreading the truth about agriculture.
“I think we do a better job of representing our interests,” Wall said. “I think our industry associations and our discussions like today’s do a much better job of advocating for public policy.”
Towards the end of the coffee break, Jolly-Nagel asked Wall for news from the ranch.
“What’s next for you, and is it cowboy poetry?” she joked. “That was my prediction!”
“Well, we got a branding at a friend’s house on Friday,” Wall began, adding that he’s keeping busy with the consulting business and ranch life. “Although I think Colter said something like, ‘Really, you’re going to be a silent partner after 18 years in politics?’ But I’m happy to go, especially if it involves horseback work.”
The former Prime Minister is apparently thrown off the construction site because of fencing.
“I came to fencing once. He (Colter) said, ‘You know, if you’re only coming here to shoot gophers, you might as well stay home!'”
Like many people who live in the Southwest, Wall spoke of the beauty of the Cypress Hills region.
“We just made great friends and are very grateful to still be in the southwest corner of the province, but more specifically in the southwest corner in the Cypress Hills, where the west is definitely still wild!”
