Zubair Sheikh taking roller coaster ride on mayoral campaign trail

Zubair Sheikh has a vision for Saskatoon.

The engineer and businessman with contracts from B.C. to Manitoba arrived in Saskatoon in 2009.

Upon arriving, he had a tough time understanding why Saskatoon wasn’t more popular and well-known, so after 11 years in Saskatoon he has just the idea to raise the city’s profile and boost tourism to help other people fall in love with Saskatoon like he did.

“If we have a theme park like West Edmonton Mall, under the roof, that could give us a theme of First Nation culture, which can be introduced to all over the world,” he said. “I know the mayor can play a major role to knock on door to get this started.”

Sheikh wouldn’t just build the park and watch it from a distance. If the park were to be built, he’d be one of the first people in line.

“Oh for sure. I love riding roller coasters,” he said.

Sheikh said Saskatoon’s immigrant population could help boost Saskatoon’s profile and attract more people and investment.

According to Statistics Canada census data from 2016, more than 15 per cent of Saskatoon’s population is made up of immigrants.

“We don’t have a direct connection with the international borders,” Sheikh said, adding that other cities that attract international business and tourism better than Saskatoon will lure people.

“If our youth, our future, will not stay with us we’ll just become a big care home.”

The mayoralty candidate is hoping an indoor theme park is one part of his vision that will help him make history on Nov. 9 when polls close in the 2020 civic election.

Shiekh is hoping to become the first person of visibly minority elected as mayor in Saskatoon.

“This is maybe our historic moment,” Sheikh said of what a victory could mean for the city’s history.

“Maybe I’m not a good talker, maybe it’s very hard for the people to understand my accent. I’ve worked extremely hard for the last 21 years to bring myself up to the extent where I can go and think about this white male dominant office where I can fit.”

Saskatoon’s mayoral past isn’t known for its diversity. Javed Syed was the last person of visible minority to run for mayor in 2003, capturing 436 votes.

Sheikh, who originally immigrated to Toronto, admittedly supported incumbent Charlie Clark in his bid for mayor in 2016 after meeting the then Ward 6 city councillor in 2009.

“He’s still a good friend of mine, but once you come to this much power as a mayor, you should have done something better in this capacity,” Sheikh said.

Year-round tourism, lack of public investment, property tax increases and escalating violent crimes are some of the major areas Clark could have done better, according to Sheikh.

Sheikh is promising a zero per cent tax increase in 2021 if he is elected.

Another campaign announcement that caught some attention during one of last month’s debates is his desire to see CCTV cameras installed in parts of downtown that would be monitored from police headquarters.

“Our downtown is really not the face of the town,” he said. “”This is one of the things we can do.”

Sheikh is opposed to the construction of a new central library, saying expensive projects shouldn’t be a priority right now and that a city is trusted for its ability to provide clean water, snow removal and proper infrastructure.

When Sheikh isn’t helping organize massive construction projects across Western Canada or plotting his path to become mayor of Saskatoon he can be seen enjoying a summer day on the lake fishing.

With summer now behind us for another year, Sheik has less than a week remaining on his historic uphill roller coaster campaign to become mayor.