REGINA - The bright lights of the studios of Access TV in Regina was the latest venue for mayoral candidates to square off in Regina’s municipal vote.
Nine of the 11 candidates on the ballot running for Regina mayor were on the stage: Shawn Sparvier, Melina Bushenlonga, Chad Bachynski, Kevin Kardash, Bevann Fox, Rod Williams, Bill Pratt, Lori Bresciani and the incumbent Sandra Masters.
The forum was organized by the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce. While this was not the first mayor's election forum of the campaign, it had the potential to reach the widest audience and drew the largest number of candidates to participate. It was also the first forum since the end of the provincial election campaign which took up a lot of publicity.
The nine candidates put forward their pitch to the voters watching on Access cable TV as well as on the live stream. During opening statements, Masters pointed to efforts to attract investment and build a safer community.
“We have made progress on all key files and while it may have been messier than I would have liked, I have done or initiated what I said I was going to do,” she said.
Bachynski pointed to his “experience as an engineer in major capital construction projects, government procurement, project management, strategic planning, capital and operational budgeting, all things that are required to know how to run a city. I'm also experienced in leading diverse teams that looks after critical infrastructure in our province.”
Williams, a former WHL hockey player, pointed to his experience at Ipsco Evraz. “I'm a crane operator, pipe inspector, and I'm a labourer. I carry a lunch bill to work and I work with my hands and I'm proud of that.”
Bresciani made her pitch pointing to her campaign slogan about the “need to refocus.”
“Strong, focused leadership in the mayor's office is why I'm running. I'll provide that leadership we've lacked for the last four years. I'll replace the current, unfocused approach with a clear plan to improve basic services, affordability, and accountability to get things done.”
Pratt said he was running for mayor “because I believe Regina is underperforming against its potential… Homelessness, drugs, public safety, Regina Exhibition Association infrastructure.” Pratt also took a shot at both Masters and Bresciani.
“Now let's be clear, some of these challenges stem from a city council that has been dysfunctional, fragmented, and at times an embarrassment to our city. Two of the individuals here tonight have been part of that council and they've had their opportunity to offer positive change. Unfortunately their efforts have not resulted in the city our residents want.”
Several issues came up during the two hour forum. One of the questions focused on financial accountability.
“I think we need to to be accountable in every dollar that's spent,” Bresciani said, pointing to costs of the new Indoor Aquatic facility project.
“The cost went up 50 percent and no consultation on the increase of the cost when it came up to the $245 million. As your mayor I will ensure that our financial decisions reflect Regina priorities.”
Masters pointed to her record saying that as mayor she “initiated the hiring of an internal auditor, as committed to, because we were without one at the city for 22 years. I initiated the formation of a very strong Audit and Finance committee that resident members partake in and I pushed for the production of quarterly financial statements to hold administration accountable to budgets and to allow council to have proper oversight.”
A particularly hot topic was infrastructure, with Bachynski critical of the disruptions from major construction projects.
“I can tell just looking at the city and the frustrations that I hear from residents and how they perceive a lot of the work that's going on around the city. We need to look at the processes. We need to improve the processes. We need to look at policies that govern how administration is able to execute construction projects. We need to look at our procurement practices as well to make sure that we're offering flexible time frames.
"So what I will bring forward is to investigate 24-hour construction to investigate extended construction hours to make sure that we don't have two seasons in winter and construction season.”
“Citizens understand temporary disruptions. What they don't appreciate is when projects are poorly coordinated,” Pratt said.
“With my experience as a board member and a CEO I'll make it a top priority to establish a strong transparent working relationship with the city manager.”
“As your Mayor I will ensure that the city departments do not work in silos,” Bresciani said. She called for development of a “coordinated master plan to minimize disruptions, reduce the costs and maximize resources efficiency including utilizing best practices and alternative ways to deliver projects.”
“Let me start by saying thank you to the residents of Regina for your patience,” Masters said. “You have likely experienced that we have invested more in streets, roads, sidewalks and pathways than ever before and there's not much pleasant about construction zones other than the finished project which makes a better city to live and to do business. As Mayor we've begun this integrated work.”
Masters pledged to “maximize the construction time where applicable and where we can and to collaborate with industry to gain efficiencies when contracting on major projects. We'll extend coordinated planning across all projects big and small and ensure that we continue planning and sequencing infrastructure improvements in a transparent way.”
Candidates also had opportunities to pose questions to candidates. Pratt posed a question directly at Bresciani about her eight years on council.
“Many have described it as chaotic, ineffective and embarrassing at times. We never saw you emerge as a leader, and if you tried, clearly you failed to unite council. Given your track record how do you reconcile your past with your current promises of collaboration and authentic leadership?
“You know what I don't did not want to add any more embarrassing moments. I was not into calling people out publicly. To me that is unprofessional,” Bresciani said.
She said her conversations were in private. “So it wasn't in public and I was not there to make a scene because I think that just adds more embarrassing moments to the current the past council.”
Bresciani also went after Masters, pointing to donations to her from developers, board members and REAL staff. She asked her “why you never recused yourself for any conflict of interest by accepting those donations as they moved forward to come to council?”
“I do not recall at all any REAL staff donating to my campaign,” Masters said. “It was a mix of donations from residents, business members, professionals who were interested in the change at that time. If you recall I did in fact recuse myself because I had served on the board prior to 2020 and I recused myself for the first year of any decisions as they were related to the Regina Exhibition Association to create some distance as board members were replaced so that there could be no conflict of interest as it relates to decisions relating to REAL.”
While most of the mayor’s race candidates were on stage, two were absent. One of those was Nathaniel Hewton, who made news after the story broke that he was wanted by RCMP for assault following an Oct. 16 incident in Saskatchewan Beach.
Also not making it on stage was “Dancing Bob” Pearce, who claimed on social media he was not informed about the forum. Nevertheless, organizers allowed Pearce to submit a question to the candidates.
“This is verbatim what he has asked me to say,” said moderator Lisa Peters. “Since health is the number one priority and the pineal gland is the healing centre of our body, chlorine and fluoride disrupt the function of this gland. What will you do?”
While the question seemed unusual the candidates did their best with it.
“First off I just want to make clear that the city of Regina's drinking water is very safe, tested often,” said Masters. “We are undergoing Buffalo Pound water treatment plant renewals and we're bringing it through and we do all of the testing to ensure that your drinking water is safe.
“As it relates to fluoride, we did pass this last term the inclusion of fluoride once the treatment plant is up and running and I think I'll just share that we received a letter from dozens of doctors and dentists signed by them and a note from Canada Public Health saying that fluoride in the water is the single biggest, one of the top 100 public health initiatives in the last century. So I'm proud of that.”
Sparvier responded by saying “I can personally tell you I swim in the pool, I drink the city water and I'm fine and I'm okay.”
“So I've heard people's concerns about this and really what it tells me is we need to do a better job of being transparent about these types of decisions so people feel informed and engaged in these decisions,” said Bachynski.
“Again, there's a lot of science that does support the benefits, especially in lower income communities without dental coverage and that to help those folks. But if people are feeling this way, I think we need to do a better job in communicating that to the rest of the people.”
“That's one of my priorities is clean water for all,” Fox said. “Access to clean water is a fundamental right and I will work towards to ensure Regina's water is safe and clean and accessible to everyone.”
“The role of the mayor is to lead council and to oversee and to work with our city administration to ensure that we always have a safe and continuously flowing supply of water, whether that water is for drinking, for our laundry, for our lawns, whatever it may be for,” said Pratt. “That's important. So, my commitment to you as mayor is to ensure that we continue with that.”
“There's nothing more important than our water, and we have invested in infrastructure to the plant,” said Bresciani. As for fluoride in the water, “we went with the feedback that came from public health, and our water is safe, and we actually received an award for our drinking water a few years back.”
In closing comments Masters made her pitch for re-election.
“I understand more what's at stake. We can't afford to go backward or start again. Our future depends upon a long-term view of the city, not a four-year cycle.”
Bachynski said he had “the leadership background, the infrastructure background to improve how council and administration works together. As your mayor, I'll be committed to removing the drama and focusing on the foundations of our city.”
“It's time for the Sandra and Lori show to end,” said Pratt. “You know it, and I know it. True leaders inspire a city to be better.They unleash the potential and watch the city soar. With over 30 years experience working and leading within organizations to achieve transformational change, I have the leadership skills required for our city to reach its potential.”
Bresciani made her pitch on fiscal responsibility.
“As I've knocked on doors in different neighborhoods, one message has resonated loud and clear. Affordability. Stop the excess spending, and many, as many are struggling just to pay the bills and put food on the table. It's time to refocus Regina.”
After the forum, Masters spoke to reporters and acknowledged there were questions she thought would come up that did not.
“You know, questions about, for example, we keep hearing about downtown revitalization, no question on downtown. Like, nobody asked about, hey, you're not helping downtown enough. That's massively important.”
Reporters asked Bresciani about what she thought of Pratt’s line about the ‘Sandra and Lori show.’
“I think everybody has, I guess, their thoughts on what they see,” Bresciani said. “But, you know, I think the best thing is, is that, you know, I wasn't dramatic on council. I didn't feel ever that I needed to put on a grandstand to embarrass.”
She also spoke more about what she has heard on the doorsteps.
“And I'll tell you, the number one thing that is coming up time over time is affordability. People are strained. They are worried. And you know, I think they're saying, you know, why is our current mayor not listening? What is happening? Like, why are we spending so much on a pool?… And again, I think that's the point. We need to go back and look and say, this is taxpayer dollars. And we have to ensure we are spending them wisely.”
Bachynski pointed to reaction he’s heard from the public about disruptions.
“Everybody's quite frustrated that it seems like every major artery is blocked off. And so, you know, what that looks like is a procurement policy, a change in the way we do things, a change in the way we operate, obviously, because it's not happening today. So we need to change that.”
