Regina mayor's legacy is beginning to take shape — whether she wants it to or not
Potential megaprojects, budgetary battles highlight Sandra Masters's first term
It's been two years since Sandra Masters became Regina's mayor, and the first woman to be elected to the post says she's surprised at how challenging the job remains and the passion of its newest citizens.
"Often I run into folks who have moved here from elsewhere who are sometimes more appreciative of what the city has to offer because they take time to explore all the things that we have," she told CBC News during a year-end interview earlier this month.
Part of her challenge in leading Saskatchewan's capital city has been dealing with the slowly fracturing council she chairs and its decisions that are beginning to shape her legacy.
Legacy in the making
Without naming them, Masters says many of the accomplishments she sees as successful in her first term centre on having people being proud of the provincial capital.
"We're not a natural tourist destination, so we create things to invite people into our city and we want to be proud of those things … to be proud of all of the opportunity that exists here," she said.
However, a mayor's legacy is often determined by the council being led.
Currently, council has been involved in heated debates over a series of potential megaprojects that could change the face of the city.
Masters has been a backer of the catalyst committee, which was created with the goal of overseeing five major projects that could shape the city's downtown core and would cost — at minimum — $490 million.
They include:
- A new aquatic facility.
- A replacement for the Brandt Centre.
- A baseball stadium.
- An outdoor soccer field.
- Modernization of the central library.
The committee, which draws its name from the idea that the projects would be catalysts for growth, development and private funding in Regina, held public consultations on the projects in October. Its report recommending the projects it believes should proceed is expected in early 2023.
There is little chance that any of the projects — if any are chosen at all — will be completed by Nov. 13, 2024, the date of the next municipal election.
However, their impact will be felt for decades.
"The reality is if you build a facility that lasts for 30 to 35 years, it's not necessarily me," Masters said about her legacy. "It'll be maybe you or, you know, the 20-somethings who we want to raise their families here or to live their lives and professional lives here and what do they want to see for their city," she said.
Masters has also chaired a city government that in 2022 rapidly reshaped itself.
The abrupt dismissal of long-time city manager Chris Holden cleared the way for the appointment of Niki Anderson to the role in November.
Anderson and Masters now form a core of women in the municipal government who have shattered the proverbial glass ceiling: Anderson is the first woman to serve as the city manager.
"I think that … people have the competency and the desire and the drive to do things that, again, gender really doesn't play into it," Masters said.
A deepening divide
This year has been capped off with a heated debate about addressing homelessness in the city.
Comments by Coun. Terina Nelson (Ward 7) to other councillors and in public meetings resulted in multiple complaints to city's integrity commissioner.
One incident was over dismissive comments made to Coun. Shanon Zachidniak (Ward 8), alleging she was wasting her time during an online meeting.
Nelson also made comments that implied Indigenous men are sexual predators, and that Indigenous peoples choose to be homeless, according to the complaints filed against her.
While Nelson was not formally sanctioned by council as a result of any of the complaints, they have resulted in promises that Nelson and the mayor would undergo anti-racism training.
A lawsuit filed by Coun. Dan LeBlanc (Ward 6) against Anderson on behalf Coun. Andrew Stevens (Ward 3) and concerned resident Florence Stratton claimed the city administration did not include action on the issue of homelessness in the proposed budget after committing to do so.
The suit helped split council, while the decision by Masters and eight councillors to support Anderson and formally condemn the two councillors only deepened the burgeoning divide.
Masters, part of the camp wanting to make the city more affordable, backed a lower-than-recommended tax increase for the city's residents in the 2023 budget.
Addressing homelessness
She has maintained that while more must be done to address homelessness in Regina, the vast majority of solutions can be found in the deep pockets of the provincial and federal governments, rather than the limited tax base of municipal governments.
When asked whether it's fair that many of the ways of addressing homelessness are not in the city's jurisdiction, Masters says fairness was not part of the discussion, something that has played out in Regina and other cities across Canada.
"I think there's a frustration from municipalities [across the country]," she said. "Ultimately, we all serve the same people. We all have the same residents that we serve regardless of the level of government."
Masters has also had to deal with a council that repeatedly was distracted from the municipality's core work.
Even though the mayor is now past the midpoint of her first term, she would not offer a firm commitment to seek re-election in 2024.
"If I believe that I'm not the right person to continue to advance the City of Regina, then I'm not the right person and someone else should do it," Masters said. "But if we continue the momentum of of where we're going, I would give it serious consideration."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
