REGINA - Mayor Sandra Masters gave her response to reporters Wednesday upon news that two high-profile candidates, including a member of her own city council, were now in the Regina mayor’s race.
“I applaud anyone who is willing to put their name forward to serve the interests of the community,” said Masters. “I think when you go into an election with multiple choices it creates better debate, better thinking around the vote, and democracy is well served when it happens.”
Her remarks to reporters were in response to the recent announcements that Councillor Lori Bresciani and Bill Pratt have entered the mayor’s contest.
Bresciani entered the mayor’s race with a campaign launch at Conexus Arts Centre on Tuesday, while Pratt held his own launch event the previous week.
Both have been critical of what they have seen at City Hall. Pratt has called for a council that “leads with integrity, cohesion, and respect,” while Bresciani said she was running for mayor because of a “gap in what the city needs.”
Masters was asked about the comments about a ‘void of leadership’ from the candidates. She responded by pointing to the amount of work council was able to accomplish in Regina during the past four years.
“I believe that every councillor to the best of their ability has contributed to the decisions that we’ve made. I know that we have done more work in the previous four years… I think that’s we are elected and I have the exact same vote as everyone else around the world shoot. And I don’t believe leadership starts when you’re elected mayor. I think that every elected official leads, I am really proud of the work we were able to accomplish. It has not been without its dramatic encounters. But in current terms of the volume, the difficult decisions, the progress that we’ve made, I’m really proud of this council.”
As for Bresciani’s criticism of the heated temperature of council meetings, Masters said “again we have the exact same vote, we are responsible for our own behaviors. I think different folks get passionate about different issues. And yeah, I think it is govern yourself accordingly and meetings will go accordingly.
“At the end of the day we’ve had some really good debate. The city of Regina elected 11 very different individuals who all come with different perspectives, different ideas, different sets of experience. And so to have that kind of, be able to have that kind of debate and hear different viewpoints, I think, makes for a better decisions. And I keep getting this and I looked at the stats last year… 70 per cent of all council votes were unanimous. So from that perspective, I think we’re doing OK.”
In addition to Masters, Bresciani and Pratt, other declared candidates in the mayor’s race are Brandon Abtosway, Kevin Kardash and Shawn Sparvier.
There has also been word of one more name joining the race for mayor this week: Chad Bachynski.
According to his website chadformayor2024.com, his two pillars are safety and affordability. Bachynski said he will “prioritize process improvement, infrastructure investment, and fiscal responsibility.”
That brings to seven the number of confirmed declared candidates for mayor to this point. None of the candidates are officially on the ballot as of yet: a formal call for nominations will happen Sept 21 and then nomination papers can start being filed at Regina City Hall beginning Sept. 25 and running to Oct. 9.
