The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work · The Political Trenches

Marwayne CAO Joshua Saskiw

·37 min·2 clips

Josh says Marwayne residents know his mother, Janelle Saskiw, and that makes the job a different kind of shadow to work through.

1. The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work focuses on Marwayne CAO Joshua Saskiw and his first months in the village role. 2. Hosts Chris and Ian interview Josh Saskiw, who was appointed CAO of Marwayne, Alberta in June 2025, and his experience matters because he is new to the job. 3. The episode asks what a CAO actually does in 2025 and why Marwayne's version of the job matters in a small Alberta village. 4. Josh says being CAO means he has "my hands on the lever" in the community where he grew up. 5. He says his mother, Janelle Saskiw, was mayor of Marwayne for 12 years, which exposed him to municipal politics at ages 10 to 12. 6. Josh describes coming home from late-night town council meetings and hearing about why council treated some issues as more important than others. 7. He says he studied political science and later public administration, then worked for MP Shannon Stubbs in Lakeland and MP Rosemary Falk in Lloydminster-Battlefords. 8. Josh says those federal politics jobs showed him that elected politics was not his preferred path. 9. He says the administrative route gave him more stability and a more neutral way to influence the community. 10. Josh says his predecessor left "a lot of really great work" for him to build upon in Marwayne. 11. He says the village gave him "as much runway as I need" to learn leadership, communication, and daily operations. 12. Josh says he learns on the job by reaching out to other CAOs in northeast Alberta and by leaning on Dion Pollard, the CAO of Lloydminster. 13. He says small municipalities require leaders to wear "a whole bunch of different ball caps" because one person often covers many functions. 14. Josh says his main mantra is transparency of communication, so staff and council are not "left in the dark." 15. He says political polarization affects how people see CAOs, but his job is to better the community rather than score points for any party. 16. Josh says Marwayne residents mostly understand that he and his mother now hold different roles, even if they are connected through family history. 17. The interview stays conversational and practical, with Chris and Ian pressing him on role clarity, staff trust, election transitions, and pushback against council. 18. Josh's answers are reflective and detailed, and he often uses Marwayne-specific examples such as public works, water and sewer, and the village's 540 people. 19. People interested in municipal government, Alberta local politics, and CAO leadership in small towns. 20. Listeners looking for policy analysis of major parties or urban governance scale.

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