Tank: Saskatoon council hopeful back after 28-vote loss 12 years ago

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Mike San Miguel came close to claiming a Saskatoon city council seat 12 years ago, losing by 28 votes.

Now, he intends to challenge for a third time to represent Ward 3. San Miguel first faced off against Ann Iwanchuk in October 2011 in a byelection to replace councillor Moe Neault, who died suddenly that year of a heart attack.

Only 16 per cent of eligible voters showed up for that vote; Iwanchuk (with 890 votes) beat San Miguel by 236 votes. San Miguel actually outspent Iwanchuk, $9,383 to $9,086.95, but Iwanchuk raised more, $9,345 to $6,185. San Miguel said last week in an email that he made up the difference himself.

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Iwanchuk likely benefitted from name recognition since her husband, Andy Iwanchuk, represented the west side Saskatoon Fairview constituency for the provincial NDP. A few weeks after Ann won her seat on council, however, Andy was defeated after two terms in the Saskatchewan Party landslide.

Round 2 happened a year later, when San Miguel and Ann Iwanchuk met in a one-on-one contest for the same west side seat. Iwanchuk again edged San Miguel in one of the closest city council contests ever. San Miguel again outspent Iwanchuk slightly, with expenses of nearly $12,000.

Iwanchuk, who works for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, received nearly $8,000 in donations from public service unions for that race, including $4,000 from CUPE Saskatchewan. San Miguel listed no contributors on his campaign disclosure, suggesting he mostly footed the bill himself.

Despite that heartbreaking defeat, San Miguel said in an email that he’s proud of his past campaign teams and “the community continues to inspire me to stay committed to uniting and strengthening our city.”

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Iwanchuk left council in 2020 and was replaced by former broadcaster David Kirton. Kirton’s term was dominated by the controversial 106-bed emergency shelter near the Fairhaven neighbourhood and he announced in March that he would not run again.

San Miguel will face off against Robert Pearce, the pastor at Fairmont Baptist Church, which is located within a block of the shelter. The shelter is run for the province by the Saskatoon Tribal Council, in a former church owned by the province.

Pearce has asked the provincial government to close the shelter, which he insists is illegal. He’s also posted dubious statements on social media, including suggesting an audit is needed to determine whether city staff are corrupt.

Devyn Gregoire, a former Saskatoon radio journalist, has also entered the Ward 3 race. Gregoire thinks the shelter should be moved elsewhere.

San Miguel says he will say more about the facility during the campaign. But he’s well aware of the issues since his office is located right next to the shelter.

San Miguel works for SGI as an industry partnership representative, a job he intends to keep if elected. Pearce has also suggested the $70,000-plus, taxpayer-funded council seat would be a part-time venture for him.

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Pearce has established a big head start, but he now faces a formidable opponent with name recognition.

San Miguel boasts a long history of community involvement on the west side and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022 for this service.

San Miguel has also been involved in the Filipino community and could become the first visible minority on Saskatoon council, if elected.

His work with the National Affordable Housing Corporation helped “many families” become homeowners in west side neighbourhoods, including Fairhaven, according to his campaign announcement.

That sounds like experience city hall badly needs during a housing crisis.

But Pearce announced he was running months ago, even though his chief goal appears to be closing or relocating the shelter, which is a provincial facility. Pearce says the shelter has made Fairhaven unsafe.

After a spike in police-reported crime in Fairhaven last year to 350 incidents in the first eight months, crime declined to 324 incidents over the same period this year, reflecting a citywide trend.

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And Fairhaven bucked a citywide increase in crimes against the person from January to August, with 59 this year compared to 79 last year. But crime remains higher than in 2022 (204 incidents, 37 crimes against the person).

Safety seems likely to dominate what looks like another close race for San Miguel.

Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

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