Saskatoon mayoral candidates ready for close-ups

Saskatoon’s mayoral debate is ready to go.

All six candidates vying for the mayor’s seat in Saskatoon — Don Atchison, Charlie Clark, Rob Norris, Cary Tarasoff, Zubar Sheik and Mark Zeilke — will square off during a 90-minute debate at TCU Place Wednesday afternoon.

Hosted by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, the event is expected to be centred around economic issues, growth sustainability and crime and safety.

“We, along with other business groups in the city, have identified those key areas as important in this civic election,” Chamber CEO Jason Aebig said.

“We really do look forward to hearing from these candidates, their thoughts and ideas around these priorities.”

Each candidate will get opportunities to speak about those areas of focus and previously agreed upon questions from the business community in addition to answering some “lightning round” questions from the crowd.

Commerce and recovering from COVID-19 won’t be the only topics discussed.

“There’s no question that, for example, issues like crime and safety have an impact on that rate of recovery,” Aebig said.

Roughly 100 members of the chamber are expected to attend the debate. The only other way to watch the debate will be on the Star Phoenix’s website.

With masks, distancing and various other safety protocols in place, Aebig is hoping the debate is still familiar.

“Our goal is to make today’s debate, feel, look and sound as normal as possible,” he said.