Mayoral candidates grilled about priorities, taxes, and plans at debate

Four of the five declared mayoral candidates squared off in a debate on Wednesday evening, hosted by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.

Don Atchison, Cynthia Block, Cary Tarasoff and Gordon Wyant debated for more than 90 minutes, answering questions from moderators Joe Gill and Christina Cherneskey.

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A fifth candidate, Mike Harder, was not present.

The first portion of the debate lasted more than an hour, with questions on the candidates’ priorities for Saskatoon, how they would expand their visions, and how they’d keep taxes in check.

Wants vs. needs

Chernesky asked candidates to outline their “wants versus needs” in the context of a city budget, and how a budget would prioritize essential services.

Wyant said core services like policing, fire, infrastructure and snow removal are all essential.

“We’ve seen a decline in policing in this city. We’ve seen a decline in the ability to protect ourselves in terms of the fire department. We’re borrowing money for snow removal in this city. We have a quarter of a million dollar deficit in road maintenance in the city of Saskatoon, these are the things that we need to be spending time on,” he said.

Atchison spoke about core services as well, and took aim at the city adding garbage services to residents’ utility bills and at what he saw as the “wants” the former council focused on.

“Wants: a rink. Wants: a library. Poor guidance on behalf of the City of Saskatoon when it came to the library board,” he said.

Block said it wouldn’t be difficult to table a budget with no property tax increases included, but said it would come at a cost.

“What are you actually willing to cut? Because we are now on best practices for road rehabilitation and sidewalk repair and underground infrastructure,” she said.

Tarasoff said addressing rail crossings should be a priority, and touched on the money being spent on the planning stages for projects like the Downtown Event and Entertainment District, which includes an arena.

Downtown public library

Block was the only one of the four candidates to voice support for the new downtown library project, saying that it will be good for business and will attract growth.

“This is a good thing for our city. This is a facility for all people,” she said.

Wyant, on the other hand, called it “a $138 million dollar lesson learned.”

“When Saskatoon city council approved the loan, I don’t think they did much due diligence at all,” he added.

Tarasoff brought up his own research on the site, which he said came after “many” freedom of information requests. He said land was bought by the city’s land branch for the library board, even though it was the site of an old gas station.

“It should never have happened. If you can’t look backwards and see how bad of a failure that was for the Land Branch to just go ahead and spend taxpayer money on unproven land, that’s in itself is a failure,” he said.

Atchison said if he was on council he “wouldn’t want to talk about that project right now either, because there’s been so many problems with it.”

Downtown Event and Entertainment District

Tarasoff was asked about his opposition to the arena and event district, and asked how he could keep the city attractive and competitive with other cities. Tarasoff pointed out that a new arena wouldn’t guarantee any particular act or show would use it.

“Edmonton has a brand new arena, and Taylor Swift isn’t going there,” he said.

Instead, he said new convention spaces in the downtown area would be a way to draw more business to the downtown.

Wyant said while he supports downtown revitalization, he could see where the money to pay for it would come from.

Block said the event district is an important infrastructure project.

“We have done our due diligence. We have a funding strategy, and I think this is going to be a way to reduce property tax by attracting taxation through residential and commercial development,” she said.

Atchison said before any downtown arena project could be considered, the downtown needs to be safe and secure.

Homelessness and emergency shelters

During the second part of the debate when candidates asked questions of one another, a verbal sparring match broke out between Block and Wyant.

Both pointed fingers at municipal and provincial responsibilities surrounding the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s emergency shelter in Fairhaven, which opened its doors nearly two years ago, and the subsequent increase in crime and other social disruptions in area surrounding it.

“Your city did not have anything to do with the location of the Fairhaven shelter. We didn’t create it. We didn’t change any zoning. We can’t shut it down,” Block said, adding she hopes to create a task force made up of residents and businesses to help address homelessness.

Block asked Wyant why, during his time in the provincial government, he didn’t “use the tools” to change the way it responded to issues with income support, shelters, and transitional housing.

Wyant took aim at Block and the city on the shelter.

“It’s the city’s responsibility to ensure that that building is compliant with the zoning. There is no way that building meets the definition of a special care home, and that’s your responsibility as a (former) city councillor and as a city; to make sure that the buildings and the facilities operating within the city of Saskatoon are compliant with the zoning,” Wyant shot back.

Wyant said the provincial definition of what makes up a special care home is not currently being met by the city, but Block refuted that claim.

“The zoning is compliant based on all of the information we have, based on the city solicitor’s department,” she said. “Why would the province choose a building and a location that doesn’t properly support people who are unhoused?”

Block said the city isn’t seeing the support it deserves from the province to help ensure people are being safely housed.

Saskatoon’s civic election takes place on November 13.