The Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly wraps up the session on Thursday, and when it does, Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan will have sat in the chamber for the final time as the representative for this constituency. In February, Duncan announced he would not be seeking re-election in the next provincial vote, which is expected to be called this fall. 

You can read the first part of our interview with Duncan here. 

As he is stepping away from provincial politics, one question for Duncan is if this is goodbye from politics, at least as an elected official, for good. He does have a wealth of experience as a legislator and would be seen as a star candidate in the world of federal politics. 

“I think that public service is... it’s an honourable calling. It’s certainly one that I’ve always been interested in for a very long time,” Duncan mused. “I’m experienced enough, and I’m young enough still, even after having 18 years of experience... It’s not something that I would never say never to doing again, but likely not at a federal level.” 

He noted his appreciation for those who have wanted to serve in political office and has a number of friends who are Members of Parliament, but added being a federal politician puts a lot of demands on life, particularly for one from Saskatchewan thanks to the travel schedule.  

“The demands on people’s time is one thing,” Duncan continued. “I think also, I’ve always been just more interested in the provincial issues as opposed to the federal issues. So, You never say never, but you know, at this point, I don’t foresee a return to the political scene, certainly at a federal level.” 

The demand on his time, even as a provincial politician, is something Duncan hinted he wouldn’t miss. However, being a public figure hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing for him.  

“I think, for the most part, people have been really good to just kind of be respectful of just your private, your personal time,” Duncan said. “I think when this is all over, probably, it increases the possibility that I’ll probably be able to go in public to the grocery store, or to restaurants and likely people won’t want to ask me questions or talk about issues. Maybe that will still happen. 

“You get recognized a lot being in public life in this way, and although it doesn’t maybe happen as much as you might think, I’m just looking forward to being able to spend time with our kids, and letting somebody else worry about the big issues that are going on within the government.” 

Duncan has always been a baseball fan, something that has seemingly passed on to his children. Over the years as an MLA, he has always tried to attend as many games as possible, but now that the demands of the office will be gone, he may look at getting more involved, perhaps as a coach.  

“It’s certainly the sport that I probably know the best.” 

***** 

Over the years, Duncan has seen a few of his colleagues pass away. Most recently was MLA Derek Myers, who was originally from Midale and grew up with Duncan.  

“That hits really hard when, you know, you get to know these people and their families, and really become more than a team... you become a family, and so that’s been a difficult part of this... just losing people that you’re really close to.” 

Over the years, Duncan has also been asked to deliver eulogies on behalf of constituents over the years as well, oftentimes people whom he didn’t know before taking office but got to know over the years.  

“I can think of a gentleman from the Bengough area, Keith White, who I first got to know when I was an opposition MLA back in 2006,” Duncan recalled. “We were fighting for the government at the time, the NDP government, to fund his cancer drugs. And through that process of just getting to know him, I’d never met the guy before he walked into my constituency office, and from the beginning of that professional relationship to ultimately being asked by his family to deliver his eulogy... Those are things that you don’t expect, and you don’t know when you come into these jobs, but certainly have a profound impact.” 

The work of clearing out the office has already started for Duncan, although he can’t just clear everything out. As a member of the Cabinet, he will still be working right up until the moment of the election call, or if Premier Scott Moe shuffles the cabinet ahead of time. 

In his 18 years, he has fielded over 1300 questions during Question Period. Of all Saskatchewan Party MLAs, only former Premier Brad Wall had more. A few of his colleagues in the chamber even egged him on that he should rise to answer all questions in the house this week to put him past the former premier. One thing Duncan will do is rise to speak on Wednesday afternoon, after Question Period, to provide his farewell remarks.  

“I’ve been starting to put my thoughts together in terms of the things that I want to talk about, and starting to think about some of those stories that I might be able to tell,” Duncan chuckled when asked if he had any moments that elicit a laugh when looking back on them. After serving with two premiers, and countless MLAs and cabinet ministers, one thing does come to mind for him. 

“As a minister, one of the, if I can say, dangers is how soon you start to inform the premier about when you’re planning to do things or bring items forward, because both premiers tend to maybe let some of that information slip before you were expecting it to,” Duncan explained.  

He noted that just last week when Premier Scott Moe all but announced the site for a small modular reactor in Saskatchewan would be near Estevan. SaskPower, who is responsible for the project, and who ultimately falls under the purview of Duncan as the Minister of the Crown Investments Corporation.  

“I’ve had a couple of those occasions where I've had, in the case of Brad Wall... You know, he actually unveiled something during a radio show that maybe I was not expecting him at that point to inform the public about, and that’s always kind of a bit of a humorous moment when you hear your boss on the radio announce something that maybe you weren’t expecting them to announce.” 

While he is waiting to find out what is happening next, Duncan is taking his time making a decision as to what will happen next. One question being asked of him often is, will he be moving back to the Weyburn area from Regina? 

“We don’t know at this point,” Duncan stated. “We’re going to let the kids finish out their school year and the different activities that they have in terms of sports and other activities that they’re involved in, and then we’re just going to take some time to kind of figure out what’s next. We don’t have any plans at this point, but we haven’t really thought too far into the future of kind of what’s next for us as a family.”