It looks like there will be a lot of familiar faces sitting in council chambers coming up for the inaugural meeting Monday in Saskatoon. Charlie Clark is once again Mayor of Saskatoon handily beating out Rob Norris in second place and former mayor Don Atchison who came in third.
It has been a tight race all night in Ward 1, both incumbent Darren Hill and newcomer Kevin Boychuk in the lead at different points in the evening, but in the end Hill won by 56 votes.
Troy Davies was acclaimed in Ward 4. In ward 3 where no incumbent ran there were eight candidates and David Kirton has nailed down the spot. Other incumbents who will be back for another term include Hilary Gough – Ward 2, Randy Donauer – Ward 5; Cynthia Block-Ward 6; Mairin Loewen – Ward 7; Sarina Gersher – Ward 8; Bev Dubois – Ward 9; Zach Jeffries – Ward 10.
The COVID-19 pandemic and a once in a decade snowstorm didn’t stop Charlie Clark from getting elected to a second-term as Saskatoon’s mayor. The incumbent is headed back to the mayor’s chair after receiving more than 27 thousand votes in Saskatoon’s postponed election. That’s 12,116 more votes than Rob Norris who finished in second while former mayor Don Atchison finished in third with 11,722 votes. Clark, who served as a City Councillor in Ward 6 prior to his first term as mayor says his first priority will be to sit down with the new council and to hear what all 10 councillors have for goals. In addition to meeting with the new council, Clark says the COVID-19 pandemic will be front and center. “Because we’re going through this situation with COVID, it’s also to make sure that I am able to do my…show leadership and convene and bring the community together to figure out how we’re going to effectively implement the restriction that we’ve heard today (Friday) and get that message out as clearly as possible. Clark was Saskatoon’s Ward 6 councillor for 10 years from 2006 to 2016 before being elected as mayor in the 2016 Civic Election.
Rob Norris says it would have been a two-horse race in the campaign to become Saskatoon’s Mayor had it not been for Don Atchison.
He says Atchison split the vote, which helped to reinforce the status quo.
Norris congratulates Charlie Clark on winning his second term as Saskatoon’s Mayor, saying it was an engaging, informed and impassioned election.
He is satisfied with the campaign he and his team waged, and doesn’t believe it was too aggressive, in particular against Clark.
Norris explains that when you are taking on an incumbent, you need to make sure to spell out a very clear choice.
He hopes the Mayor and City Council will take into consideration the perspectives and proposals of other candidates, and think carefully about the message they were hearing from residents.
Norris says people are deeply concerned about affordability, safety, prosperity and the next generation of jobs and they want to see a more welcoming Saskatoon.
He wouldn’t directly say that he would run again in any political forum, but instead stated, “you never say never”.
