Saskatoon mayoral candidates stress top fiscal priorities as campaigns wrap

Weeks of fiery campaigning are coming to a close as Saskatoon’s mayoral candidates make the final push to appeal to voters.

Current mayor and candidate Charlie Clark is echoing a question raised during the provincial election: who is best suited to steer the city through the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic?

“Now is not the time for transition,” Clark told reporters on Friday.

“(Voters) want to know that the person who’s going to be elected can jump into the seat and get right back to dealing with the rising case counts in our city.”

The incoming mayor must work to keep businesses afloat as the pandemic continues, Clark said.

If re-elected, he said he’d continue to ensure COVID-19 business regulations are flexible, like the parking patio adaptation adopted this summer.

Clark is also proposing a COVID-safe winter “animation and attraction” strategy to support local hotels and businesses.

Candidate Rob Norris said as a former MLA, he has the experience to guide Saskatoon through the pandemic.

“We know that COVID is affecting families negatively, and that affordability piece is increasingly important,” he told Global News.

Norris said he’d lean on his relationships with key players in the province, federal government and private sector to create economic opportunities during the pandemic.

He reiterated his top financial promises on Friday, highlighting a commitment to cut the mayor’s and chief of staff’s salaries, along with the mayor’s communications budget, by 10 per cent.

Property taxes

Norris emphasized his platform commitment to cap property tax increases at one per cent.

“A few more dollars in the pockets of working families, seniors, and small and medium-sized business owners, well, right now that’ll make all the difference,” he said.

Former mayor Don Atchison has committed to a zero per cent tax increase in 2021.

“My allegiance is to you, the taxpayers of Saskatoon,” he said.

“We need proven leadership through this post pandemic,.”

If elected, he said he’ll prioritize attracting foreign investment and employment.

“It really boils down to jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said.

The library debate

Atchison recapped his entire platform at a news conference on Friday, reiterating the call to review and revise plans for a new downtown library.

Mayoral hopeful Cary Tarasoff did the same, taking shots at Clark’s tenure as mayor.

“Charlie needs to be held accountable,” he said.

“We’re facing a major crisis of our generation right now and he’s worried about fluff.”

Clark warns cancelling the project could kill employment opportunities and bring millions of dollars in lawsuits against the city.

However, Tarasoff said the city could argue the pandemic has been a “force majeure” — an unforeseeable circumstance that prevents the fulfillment of a contract, according to Oxford Languages.

“If the will of the people is at risk because of the library, I will go to a court easily for that,” Tarasoff said.

Other candidates’ top priorities

Tarasoff and Clark agreed that other candidates’ promises to cap property taxes would require cutting city services.

Mayoral hopeful Zubair Sheikh has promised not to increase taxes for four years if elected.

“(My) number one priority is giving relief to the citizens of Saskatoon by seizing and freezing the property taxes,” Sheikh said in an interview on Friday.

“(People) need more money to spend on food and on other needs, rather than paying the city, who has spent their money unwisely.”

He said he hopes to generate tourism and revenue by constructing an indoor theme park funded by public and private investors.

Meanwhile, candidate Mark Zielke emphasized his platform point to review every city department’s budget.

“If we have spending going on — or bleed, if you will — coming from a city perspective, then that’s going to stop and we’re going to cauterize that,” he said.

“Let’s see how we can actually make this city function like a well-oiled machine, rather than a system that’s bloated with chaos and red tape.”