The library, that Halloween post and other key moments from the final Saskatoon mayoral election forum
Charlie Clark, Don Atchison and Rob Norris grilled on everything from property taxes to negative campaigning
Saskatoon's three most prominent mayoral candidates participated in their last forum for the 2020 civic election Tuesday, six days before voters go to the polls on Nov. 9.
CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning held the in-person — but physically distanced — event, with host Leisha Grebinski asking questions about everything from property taxes to the effects of negative campaigning.
Incumbent mayoral candidate Charlie Clark and his rivals Rob Norris and Don Atchison largely repeated the same policy positions they've stamped out over many prior forums and debates, but some moments stood out.
Here's a recap. Want to watch the forum itself? Watch below.
Norris repeats regret, but offers no direct apology for Halloween post
The first question asked candidates what they would do to change the increasingly negative tone of the campaign. It came a day after Norris walked back a now-deleted Halloween post on his campaign Facebook account accusing Clark of "terrifying treatment of female Remai Modern board members."
"Well, I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate my regret to to Mr. Clark," Norris said, without directly apologizing to Clark, who sat next to him during the forum.
Norris then immediately reverted to campaign mode.
"It's one thing to hear rhetoric and words that relate to unifying people, but it's another to go door-to-door to listen to people and actually see those consequences of the public policy decisions that have been made over the course of several years."
Clark, speaking in person for the first time about the post, said it had a ripple effect extending beyond his family.
"Yesterday my son Simon came up to me and he asked me about the post and he said that in high school, his friends are talking about this issue right now," Clark said. "The tone at the top does really matter. And I believe it's very important to have a positive, forward, focused, unifying approach that finds the good in people and draws on the strengths of the community."
Atchison said "fighting" between candidates is of no value to anyone.
"I think what we've just finished hearing over the past few days is why a lot of people don't get involved in politics at any level at all," the former mayor said.
In a news conference on Monday, Norris said he would contact Clark directly to apologize.
Michelle Beveridge, Clark's campaign manager, said the men spoke later on Monday.
Asked if Norris apologized, Beveridge said, "Mr. Norris expressed regrets about a member of his team making [the] social media post. Charlie has moved on."
Clark takes aim at 'misleading information' from opponents
During the forum, Clark addressed what he called "misleading information" from his opponents, including Norris dubbing the city's low emissions community plan a carbon tax and Atchison citing a potential cost of up to $500 million for the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) service.
"We can't get gridlocked with misleading information and fear," Clark said. "We need to talk in the realm of reality."
Clark said it was unfair to compare one city's BRT project with another's, as Atchison had done moments before.
"The notion that it's going to be $120 million is totally inaccurate," Atchison said. "Go to Mississauga News. You'll find that it was $528 million. London, Ontario, was $500 million. They bought land in Ontario. We've got overpasses here."
Atchison said he instead supports higher-frequency traditional bus service.
Norris said the BRT project needs to be placed on pause and also said the $120-million cost estimate is "not accurate."
"The BRT is premised on a number of principles and some of those principles just simply are not going to work because there are private businesses and private landowners that are going to be profoundly affected. We need to go back to the drawing board," Norris said.
Grebinski asked Clark if he was concerned that the BRT price tag could increase over time and increase the tax burden for citizens.
"This is something that happens with projects," Clark said, adding that the project will be developed in phases and is estimated to cost $150 million at most.
Norris says two-thirds of people are skeptical of library project
Norris has made his opposition to the plan for a new $134-million downtown library a centrepiece of his campaign. During the forum, he suggested broad public skepticism surrounds the project too.
"Two-thirds of the people of Saskatoon have real reservations about this project," Norris said.
"Where did you get that number?" Grebinski immediately asked.
"That's from polls that I've undertaken," Norris replied. "What I'm looking at is to make sure we're reflecting the views of the people of Saskatoon, those that are going to really foot the bill."
Clark expressed frustration with even having to broach a subject he considers long settled. City council shaved $20 million from the project budget and approved $67.5 million in borrowing one year ago.
"I have to tell citizens that we should not even be bogging down this campaign at this very important time in the city on an issue that has already been dealt with, where the train has left the station," he said.
Atchison said "we really need to go back to the drawing board if it's possible," but added it's unclear whether Norris' plan to rescind city council's approval of the borrowing is even doable.
Different takes on housing the homeless
Atchison and Clark both said extra hotel space should be used to provide safe shelter for the homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We need to be able to get people off the street, and the other critical part is to have separation there. Putting a group of people all together in one area is going to cause us nothing but problems in the end. We've got to move very quickly," Atchison said.
Clark said a hotel plan is missing from the city's COVID-19 approach.
"We just need to use some of the existing hotels that have space available and make sure that people who need help but who have been exposed to COVID or even tested positive can isolate safely in a hotel and not end up in our shelter system," Clark said.
Norris said other, "very creative measures" ought to be taken.
"We should be having conversations with the reserve units in Saskatoon to see what options there are for short-term housing," he said.
As far as long-term housing, Atchison had another suggestion.
"We need to find a place [where] they, in fact, can do gardening, they can have their own space for themselves, that it's there 24 hours a day," Atchison said. "I'm talking about having tiny homes, that sort of thing, where people can have a pet of their own so they can, in fact, feel as if someone is caring for them."
Norris has said he would strike a panel of experts to look at a "decentralized model" for The Lighthouse.
"We don't need any more studies," said Atchison, who wants to move the Lighthouse outside of the downtown core.
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