He held one political office or another for nearly twenty years, over a decade of which he spent as premier of Saskatchewan, but if you trace the career path of Brad Wall, the province's 14th premiere, you'll find it hearkens back to radio.

In Swift Current, where Wall began his career as an MLA in 1999, his first job was at the local radio station 17 years before his first elected office. Like many teenagers, he was using the job just to pay for a few extra items rather than as the stepping stone to politics it would become.

"That was how I made my car payments," he recalls, "and a little extra pocket spending money. That station was FM94. When I was there it was kind of a completely mixed format so we'd do folk on Sunday morning and at nights we did heavy rock. On my shifts, you could sort of randomly throw on some comedy albums...It was an absolute riot," he added. "I loved it." 

Shenanigans abounded in Wall's time in radio, and he fondly recalls the people he worked with, some of whom had wicked senses of humour that shone through in more than their on-air personalities.

"We had a fellow from Beechy Saskatchewan, just on the South Saskatchewan River," Wall said, "and because of a birth defect he was born without legs. He had a chance for prosthetics but always rejected them. His arms were his legs. He could make anybody burst into laughter while you were on air. There was a window between me and the interview room and during one break, I was very nervous, he managed to jump high enough off his arms with two cigarette butts up his nose right in the middle of my break. I couldn't finish, I had to hit the next song and shut things down."

Wall's government would go on to win one of the largest majority's in Saskatchewan history. He would stay on for over a decade and win three straight majority governments. He recalls some of the skills he picked up as a high schooler in Swift Current serving him well in politics. 

"I was very nervous the first time I spoke on the radio and I wanted to be prepared and I hoped people enjoyed the show. I think it did probably help a lot. If you're doing news in grade 12," he added, "you're going to be very aware of current events because you're reading about them every day. So I think it did help." 

After retiring from politics in 2018, Wall has since opened and is currently running his own business in Swift Current.