Riders look to end seven-game slide in showdown against Stamps
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Riders take on the Calgary Stampeders for the first time this season on Friday.
Brad Wall’s official premier’s portrait was unveiled in a ceremony Wednesday in front of a crowd at the Legislative Building.
In his speech, Wall talked about being approached to get the portrait done shortly after his party came into power.
“And I think I said, probably a bit defensively, ‘We just got here. (It’s) a little early to plan the funeral, I think.’ And the protocol person said something like, ‘Well, Premier, we just want to capture the vitality and the energy of your new government in these, its first days of office.’ Ladies and gentlemen, that’s protocol speak for ‘we need to get this thing painted now before you start to look like Skeletor,’ ” said Wall, eliciting laughs from the crowd.
Wall said he and his wife chose artist Phil Richards because of a photo of a portrait he did of former Ontario premier Bob Rae.
Richards came to Saskatchewan and met with Wall in Regina and went with him to Swift Current as well. Wall said Richards asked him about his interests and passions outside of politics and wanted to add those around Wall in the painting. In his speech, Wall thanked Richards for including those details.
“I’m not sure people will see them all but it’s an interesting little game to play to try to pick all of those out,” said Wall.
A book of speeches
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A book of speeches from Abraham Lincoln which is only one of many Wall owns. Wall said he told Richards he was a Lincoln enthusiast when he was asked about his inspirations.
“The Promise of Saskatchewan”
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Wall is holding a rolled-up copy of “The Promise of Saskatchewan: A New Vision for Saskatchewan’s Economy,” which is a policy paper he released in 2004.
“It is the forebear and foundation of our growth plans on which we campaigned and with which we governed,” said Wall.
1967 Dodge Coronet
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Wall is a well-known car enthusiast and a touch of that was included in the portrait as well.
“If you look over, I guess, my left shoulder, you will see a model of a Dodge 1967 mid-life crisis, and a picture of Tammy, and I love them both,” said Wall, joking in his speech at the Legislative Building.
Football helmets
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Wall is a football fan and included in his portrait are football helmets from every level of football in Saskatchewan, but there is also an army helmet in the collection.
Wall said it was given to him by members of the Canadian Armed Forces who’d been in the office and said he was missing a helmet — the next day that helmet showed up and he put it with the others. Wall said it’s the most important of them for what it represents.
Swift Current
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When the artist went with Wall to Swift Current, Wall said they went to a place where he would go to think — Marsden Road on the south perimeter of the city.
“From that road, by the way, you turn and look to the north and you see a view of my hometown, a view of my constituency — that place that I kind of wanted to represent somewhere, Ottawa, Regina — and Phil took a picture of that view. And that view is in the painting too, over my other shoulder,” said Wall.
Richards took a photo and included it as a painting in Wall’s portrait.
“It’s a painting that does not exist except in this painting, which I think is kind of cool.”
On the table
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There’s a piece of potash on Wall’s desk, one of the biggest resources in Saskatchewan and one that grew by leaps and bounds during Wall’s tenure.
Wall’s glasses are on the table and just behind them is a stack of books. The book on top is the large-print Bible of Wall’s grandfather. Wall said his grandfather read it as he got older and the margin notes and underlined words are still a blessing, “like a chance to communicate with him after all these years.”