Saskatoon’s Cynthia Block announces mayoral candidacy

Saskatoon city councillor Cynthia Block has thrown her hat in the ring for the mayoral race.

The campaigning period began June 1, with the Nov. 13 election day seeing Saskatoon residents vote for one mayor and 10 city councillors (one for each ward), as well as 10 school board trustees for the Saskatoon Public School Board and seven for the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Board.

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“I have spent the past eight years on city council, and it would be the great honour of my life to serve as your mayor. I have worked hard, done my homework, listened carefully, and made tough decisions. But, I haven’t done any of it alone,” Block said.

Block is running with the slogan “All of us, together,” saying that it takes each of us working together to resolve today’s issues.

“I will work with you and for you to make Saskatoon affordable, safe, and sustainable, with a clear vision for the future.”

She outlined what her five priorities would be as mayor:

• The Basics: Building better roads and safe active transportation.
• Housing and Homelessness: Working urgently to ensure everyone has a safe place to live.
• Modernizing: Public transit, green infrastructure, energy efficiency, innovative technology.
• Acting on Reconciliation and Inclusion: Both are foundational to a thriving, healthy community.
• Revitalizing Downtown: Modern amenities to attract density to the core, where infrastructure and services already exist, and to attract employers and make downtown living an attractive, exciting option.

Block said she wants to create a mayor’s task force on homelessness, adding that residents would have a say.

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Charlie Clark announced earlier in 2024 that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election.

“Anybody who’s running needs to think not just about getting their own specific goals met, but how do they build teams and coalitions and partnerships,” Clark said.

“Right now we see increasing anger and divisiveness, and sometimes the politics of blame, and people going in and saying they’re the best and everyone else is screwing up. That doesn’t work in municipal politics. You need to go in there with some humility and figure out who you can work with.”

He said listening to residents is important to help make a difference in their lives.

Clark said the city has seen record population and job growth, adding that has come from politics of collaborating, inclusiveness and truth and reconciliation.

He said he was involved in municipal politics for 18 years because it’s an amazing job.

“It’s a job that gives you a chance to see and meet, and be part of the life of a city that is undergoing a transformation in a way that I know I’ll never get to be.”