Majority favour change in Saskatoon mayor: poll

A new poll suggests a majority of Saskatoon residents favour a change at city hall.

The poll from 306 Media & Communications found that 63 per cent of those surveyed between June 6-10 said it is time for a change in the mayor’s office.

“While it’s still early and there’s a long way to go before the 2020 election, these results certainly point towards one thing: many people in Saskatoon are less than happy with Mayor Charlie Clark and his agenda, and are possibly looking towards change in the mayor’s office,” Dale Richardson, founder and director of 306 Media & Communications, said Monday in a release.

Only 28 per cent said Saskatoon was on the right track, while 36 per cent said the city was headed in the wrong direction, according to the poll.

If an election was held today, 54 per cent of decided voters said they would vote for Rob Norris, and 46 per cent for Clark.

“With a considerable amount of dissatisfaction towards Charlie Clark, if Rob Norris decides to run it looks as though he could be in a very good position to defeat the incumbent mayor of Saskatoon,” Richardson said.

Norris said he has been approached by many people encouraging him to run, but has not yet made a decision.

“It’s time for a change is what they’ve said, we want a different tone at the top, we want a vision for where Saskatoon is going,” Norris told Global News in April.

The former Saskatchewan Party MLA has been critical of the direction the city has taken.

Norris said that includes turmoil at the art gallery, to the controversy over downtown bike lanes.

Former mayor Don Atchison is reportedly considering running again, Richardson said, which changes the poll results.

In this scenario, Clark would have the support of 42 of decided voters in the poll, compared to 36 per cent for Norris, and 22 per cent for Atchison.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said Atchison should not run again.

“In a head-to-head race with Clark, Rob Norris appears to have a very good shot at winning in October 2020,” Richardson said.

“However, if Don Atchison decides to throw his name in the ring again, Norris and Atchison split votes and Clark goes up the middle to win again.”

Neither Clark or Atchison have announced their intention for the October 2020 municipal election.

WATCH: Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark delivers state of the city address

1:36 Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark delivers state of the city address

The survey was conducted by 306 Media & Communications from June 6-10, 2019, with a representative sample of 403 online Saskatoon residents who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.

The precision of Angus Reid Forum online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/- 4.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all residents of Saskatoon been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.