The life of the premier's wife

Tami Wall's life is abnormal and normal.
Wall, the wife of Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, spoke at the Moose Jaw and Wakamow Celebrate the Prairies luncheon at the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa on Saturday.
Addressing a room full of women, Wall spoke about her life as a premier's wife.
"Few people in Canada hold this position and few people know that much about it," said Wall. "Their impressions are based on what they see on TV. Lots of smiling and lots of waving."
Wall said she is "pretty much in the background" and most of the time is anonymous, doing things behind the scenes.
Wall has held the job of a politician's spouse for 10 years since her husband, Brad Wall, became an MLA in 1999.
Making the transition from being the wife of an MLA to that of the premier was easy for Wall because her husband had been the leader of the opposition for three years before he became premier and there was a lot of similarities.
"It helped make the transition a lot smoother and the changes have been gradual," said Wall.
Since her husband's election night Wall has had to become more aware of the media and realized that she may need some media training when dealing with questions from reporters.
Wall said she does not have a constitutional role nor does she get a salary as the first lady of Saskatchewan.
Wall admitted that she does give her husband advice about the province.
"I have been a sounding board for Brad and I generally offer the you can't-see-the-forest-for-the-trees point of view," said Wall.
Wall has recently begun to volunteer, knowing that causes she works for will receive some media attention.
Wall is a board member of the Chris Knox foundation, a charity that will help children and young adults with cancer to attend sporting, fine arts and cultural events during treatment.
She has also begun to work with Habitat for Humanity and said she liked the idea of the program because it is a hand up, not a hand out.
Wall said sometimes being married to the premier is like being married to someone who works in the oil fields or a regional manager who is on the road a lot and she had to learn to get a lot of things done by herself.
Her every day life has not changed a lot as she still has to make her children's schedules, clean and fix things around the house.
"I shovel the walk in the winter and take the dog for a run or walk twice a day," said Wall.
"That's my personal life and I wouldn't change (it) for the world. I enjoy what we are doing and it's very exciting some days and quite normal other days. It's nice to have both."
Wall is glad she does not have to live her life under a microscope.
"I can go grocery shopping in my sweat pants if I want to and everyone in Swift Current is fine with that."

Colin Dewar can be reached at 691-1263