NORTH BATTLEFORD — The City of North Battleford's mayor has confirmed that he will not be seeking re-election in this year's upcoming municipal election slated for November 13.
Mayor David Gillan noted at the the city's annual State of the City Address, that May marks his 10-year anniversary in municipal government after working at both at the City of North Battleford and the Town of Battleford before his election as mayor in 2020.
"It was never my intention to make a career as a politician," he said during his final address.
He added that left his career four years ago and though he may return to politics in the future, he noted that due to his age, he only has a certain amount of time left to work either locally or elsewhere in the career he left behind to serve as mayor.
"It's not because I don't want to represent this great city," he added.
"I have always seen that Battlefords as a region, I never saw just the town, just the city, or just the RM. The Battlefords are unique ... the true potential of the Battlefords will only be reached if we work together," he said, speaking to the breaking down of silos across the community.
A highlight of his term, he noted to media in a scrum following the event, was that he hopes he's managed to build a sense of togetherness.
"I think the key message that I spoke ... is that we've got to speak regionally. Even though we're separate, we've go to speak regionally.
"It's something that I probably pushed a lot since I've been the mayor."
Togetherness key focus in 2024's State of the City
His comments come after this year's State of the City Address that focused heavily on the principles of coming together as a community to not only grow the Battlefords but to address concerns such as taxation or public safety and crime.
"How do we grow? Because I truly believe that growth will help us ... I'm really passionate about regionalism. I'm really passionate about working together.
"If you think of that as an umbrella, everything else I've kind of done as a mayor, somehow fits under there someplace ... which is let's work together and then we can solve anything," he said.
As far as regional togetherness goes, working to help keep the homeless shelter open (now through BATC) is key, along with the creation of the Battlefords Regional Community Coalition (BRCC) to help address racism in the community.
Mayor Gillan also noted reconciliation initiatives such as joining the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities, the adoption of a formal land acknowledgement policy, the permanent display of Treaty 6 And Metis flags in council chambers, or the renaming of a portion of Railway Ave. to Peyak Trail, highlight the community's dedication to togetherness.
A big piece, he added, was the recent move to accessible council chambers that he hopes will allow more people to run for this year's election and this council's support of pride initiatives. Another project the city is tendering, would see anywhere from a 50 to 120 foot teepee built on King Hill to highlight the importance of recognizing Indigenous people in and around the Battlefords.
""As a community we need to better understand the past so we can better become an inclusive community today and tomorrow where everyone is welcome," he said during his address, noting that its name Tawâw Point means Welcome Point, in Cree.
One interesting partnership he noted, speaking again to the importance of working together, was the ongoing partnership between the city and BRCC with Public Safety Canada. There, he said they're reaching the finish line on a multi-year funding grant application that could see more programming coming to the community in an effort to try and keep youth between the ages of 10 and 20 out of gang violence.
"The provincial government and the federal government only have so much [money] to give out as well. And it's a true fact if we stay together and jointly try obtain money ... it makes for a much stronger application," he told the media.
"So the more we work together, wow, I think the possibilities are endless."
Possibilities, he noted like the new site on Red Pheasent Urban Reserve where ground was broken last year and where the search continues for new vendors. Another example, he said, is the North West College's new site in the Frontier Mall or the continued effort to build a new campus for them here in town.
"Let's work together. Let's reconcile. Let's build projects together. Let's find a way forward that we all can afford and all want for our children."
Wishes for next council; togetherness theme of his mayorship
"I guess ... that is [the] Mayor Gillan theme of his mayorship, really ... in many, many aspects," he said, again noting that the community needs to come together to address many issues from economic growth like building a new rink when necessary, or social development
"We need a lot of social development, we have so much addiction and so [many] homelessness issues," he noted, adding again that the community has to come together.
He hopes out of the next council, (though he wishes to remain unbiased without throwing his support behind any one candidate) that there is a progressive group of people who are willing to talk and work together. The conversations that keep the community moving forward, must continue, he noted.
"I would hope that the next mayor ... has a similar mindset, which is it's not about running a council meeting only. There's a lot of work in-between," he said, noting that is the true measuring stick of a council is how much work is down between meetings.
He noted, anecdotally, that he's had many people with diverse backgrounds come to him and ask how to run to serve their community as a councillor or mayor in the upcoming election.
"And I'm going, 'this is fantastic.' That tells me something, that we're on the right road I think as a council."
