A 'Rolling Stone farewell tour': Premier Brad Wall attends final cabinet meeting, resigns as MLA

As more than a decade as Saskatchewan's premier, Brad Wall took time to take stock of his political legacy, while also comparing his goodbye to an "interminable Rolling Stone farewell tour."

"Like Keith RichardsI might look a little rough, but I'm feeling pretty good," he quipped on Wednesday, as he attended his final cabinet meeting and handed in his resignation as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

• Call Me Brad: A look at Brad Wall's time as Saskatchewan premier told by those who know him and watched his career

In his 10 years as premier, Wallsaid he was aware of the honour of serving in public office, particularly whenever he was in the cabinet room.

"If you can't feel the honour of thejob when you're sitting in that room every Wednesday, then check your pulse because you should," he said. "It's a special place."

Restraint in tough times

During his final scrum with reporters, Wall said the province had been through some difficult times with what he called "stubbornly low" commodity prices over the past few years.

He acknowledged there havebeen pressures, with the province askingits public services and school boards to make reductions and cuts. MLAs and ministerial staff took cuts as well.

However, he took aim at other governmentsincluding the NDP government in Albertaand the federal government in Ottawafor taking on billions in deficits, without a fixed plan to return to black-ink budgets.

"We're one of the only provinces that is actually talking about a balanced budget," he said. "It's like we've all had collective amnesia about the '90s, where parties of every stripeengaged in unsustainable budgeting, including in our province."

His successors, in comparison, are talking about getting the finances on track within three or four years, and the last budget keeps the province on that track, he said.

"I just think I'm happy that Saskatchewan's saying, 'No, we're going to deal with this now.' "

Ban on licence plates a retaliation

Wall said he found it "remarkable" that people were surprised about the Saskatchewan government's decision toban Alberta licence plates on construction sites.

The provincial throne speech highlighted the fact Alberta had ignored trade rulings with its markup on out-of-province beer, he said, adding Saskatchewan took a position that the beer markup couldn't continue.

"We're going to retaliate if they don't change, and we retaliated."

Since Alberta's trade minister has since said that he would make changes to the beer program if an initial ruling was upheld, Wall said he felt as though Saskatchewan's move captured Alberta's full attention, leading to the dropping of the licence plate ban.

The end of an era

Wall has long been the face of the Saskatchewan Party, a modern political movement in Saskatchewan born in the late 1990s as a coalition of Liberals and Conservatives. It was Wall who finally led the new party to power in 2007.

Even through difficult times, people are positive about Saskatchewan and its role in the country and the world.- Premier Brad Wall

Wall said he felt that he was part of a group that left Saskatchewan in better shape, with 160,000 more people calling the province home, 60,000 more jobs, and preserving a triple AAA credit ratingduring his time in office.

"We have a different attitude in this province. It's changed. Even through difficult times, people are positive about Saskatchewan and its role in the country and the world," he said.

The Saskatchewan Party will choosea new leader this weekend. The winner will be sworn in as Saskatchewan's next premier a few days later.