Gord Wyant announces candidacy for Saskatoon mayor

Article content

Former provincial cabinet minister Gord Wyant announced his campaign for Saskatoon mayor on Monday, ending months of speculation about what he quipped was one of the city’s “worst-kept secrets.”

In front of a backdrop with the slogan “Safe streets, Smart spending,” Wyant promised to campaign on themes of “public safety, affordability and transparency” while highlighting his experience in politics: 14 years at the provincial level and a previous seven-year stint on Saskatoon city council prior to that, preceded by a two-year term as chair of Saskatoon Public Schools.

Article content

In his remarks to supporters at a venue on 20th Street in the Riversdale neighbourhood, Wyant said tax increases passed by the current council are “not sustainable” and there’s a need to “re-think how City of Saskatoon budgets are set.”

He also criticized council for failing to be transparent; making decisions behind closed doors “breeds cynicism,” he said.

Wyant spent a significant chunk of his speech on themes of community safety, stating that safe streets are “essential” in all neighbourhoods.

During questions from media after his speech, he called for the city to “stay in its lane” and focus on core services.

Asked how he’d find more resources for those core services in the context of a budget where police already use the most money of any city department — just over 23 per cent of the total operating budget — and where the next three highest-funded items are road maintenance, fire services and public transit, accounting for just over another 33 per cent, Wyant called for efficiencies to be found elsewhere.

“We need to find more money to support our core services, especially fire and police, our protective services — it’s very important,” he said. He called for a review of the city’s community safety plans, with the goal of ensuring they’re properly resourced.

Article content

Article content

On homelessness, Wyant said he learned much from a recent experience taking part in the Sanctum 36-hour Challenge, an event which seeks to give participants a sense of what it’s like to live on city streets.

While he called for the city to continue collaborating with community partners, he also stressed that the provincial government needs to offer more support.

“We need to be engaging other levels of government to provide the support that they should be providing,” he said.

On the issue of a downtown arena and entertainment district (DEED), Wyant said he “had to give council a lot of credit” for its work advancing the plan for a new arena downtown and a renovation of the TCU Place convention centre, but said “we really need to understand how we’re going to pay for it.”

He also called for clarity on the changes tied to the federal Housing Accelerator Fund program, which offers Saskatoon some $41 million but comes with requirements for zoning to be changed to allow four-plexes to be built on all residential lots and for buildings of up to four storeys to be allowed up to 800 metres from a transit corridor.

Article content

While acknowledging a need to address Saskatoon’s tight housing supply and offer affordable housing incentives, Wyant said it’s also important for council and residents to “look deeply” into the implications and potential unintended consequences of the changes.

While Wyant said his experience in the provincial cabinet on files including justice, education, advanced education and minister responsible for SaskBuilds was an asset, he was also asked how he’d defend his involvement with a provincial government that has itself increased taxes, particularly the provincial sales tax.

Wyant said the Sask. Party government has only raised taxes after looking for ways to increase efficiencies, while suggesting the city government has failed to show an increased level of services despite increased taxes at the municipal level.

Asked if he feels the citizens of Saskatchewan have seen increased levels of service in health care and education since 2010, Wyant said he was more interested in talking about his vision for the future of Saskatoon, noting he has now fully resigned from provincial politics and suggesting that such questions are better put to current provincial officials.

Article content

Voting in Saskatoon’s municipal election is scheduled for Nov. 13.

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add The StarPhoenix.com and LeaderPost.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.

Article content