Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall hired by law firm in Alberta

FILE: Wall, who retired from politics in January, was hired by law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt (Photo: Brad Wall/ Facebook)

CALGARY — Brad Wall has stepped into a new job with an Alberta law firm just months after walking away from the premier’s office in Saskatchewan.

Wall, who retired from politics in January, was hired by law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt on Tuesday as a special adviser.

“Looking forward to working with the great team ?Osler–Law and their clients,” Wall tweeted. “I will be based in the Calgary office but Tami and I are staying in the home of the ?SCBroncos!”

Wall, who is from Swift Current, Sask., did not return messages Tuesday seeking clarification on where he will spend most of his time.

Shawn Denstedt, Osler’s energy and regulatory industry leader, said Wall will come into the office possibly one week a month while working remotely the rest of the time.

“My full expectation is that he’ll have other things to do. He’ll be travelling and speaking all across the country is my guess,” Denstedt said.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be a busy guy.”

In the early 2000s, Alberta’s hot economy lured many young people away from Saskatchewan as they sought jobs in the oilpatch.

When Wall became leader of the Saskatchewan Party, he promised to bring people back to the province. His 2007 election campaign focused on that and the party swept to power — the first of three straight majority governments.

Wall, 52, was taking hits on Twitter over his hiring at an Alberta law firm.

One tweet from Annabel Townsend said: “So Brad has left Sask to find work in Alberta? #irony.”

Wall tweeted in reply: “Well actually Annabel – I started a business in Sk and I am grateful to be getting interest from other provinces and bringing the income home. #SaskatchewanAdvantage Thanks for the chance to share that.”

Saskatchewan Trade Minister Jeremy Harrison said he’s happy for his former boss and that he doesn’t believe the government has a contractual relationship with the law firm.

“I knew he would do very well post-politics,” Harrison said in Regina.

Wall has long been a political darling in Calgary and has frequently travelled there to give speeches to business leaders. When Alberta voters elected Rachel Notley and the NDP in 2015, conservatives in Alberta openly wished Wall was their premier.

Notley joked about Wall’s new job on Tuesday. On Twitter she referenced a spat the two governments had over whether to allow trucks with each other’s licence plates on provincial construction sites.

“Don’t worry. We won’t check your licence plate when you’re parked at the office,” Notley tweeted. “All jokes aside, congratulations and welcome.”

Although Wall is not a lawyer, Denstedt said the firm sees him as someone who can identify business opportunities in areas such as energy, agri-food and trade.

“We’ve got lots of international clients and lots of big clients in the energy business. We thought he would be a great resource to advise us on how best to capture some of those opportunities.”

Denstedt said negotiations between the two sides went fairly quickly after Wall retired. The two sides haven’t discussed Wall possibly returning to politics, he added.