Paul Wells in conversation with Brad Wall

Brad Wall knows what it’s like to be the new guy everyone is watching at a premiers’ conference.

That’s the situation he faced in 2008 at his first meeting of the Council of the Federation. Now with seven of these conferences under his belt, he’s learned to push the ideas near to his conservative heart — freer trade, personal responsibility — at a table where most of his colleagues sit to his political left.

Wall talked to Maclean’s about his efforts to improve Canada’s internal trade market, about the reasons why he disagrees with Stephen Harper about the need for an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women — and about this year’s newly elected premier, Quebec’s Philippe Couillard.

Related posts by Paul Wells: 

Paul Wells in conversation with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne 

Premiers in PEI: Let the eastern bastards shine in the sun