Mayor praises ‘innovative spirit’ of city residents
Fougere cites projected economic growth as providing means to tackle challenges
Mayor Fougere is bullish about Regina.
That explains why he calls the State of the City his “favourite speech of the year.” It gives him a free pass to paint a gleaming picture of the city’s future.
“I say this city is very strong. It’s growing, it’s dynamic, it’s energetic,” he told an audience of more than 400 at the Delta Hotel ballroom on Thursday.
“Over the past decades we’ve seen some tremendous growth.”
We have some stubborn issues like homelessness and affordable housing...
The mayor’s optimism is built on the “innovative spirit” of Reginans, and especially the waves of new Canadians who are choosing the city.
“They are professionals, they are professors, they are investors, they are entrepreneurs,” he said.
The mayor said the city’s “position of strength” has enabled it to attract major events: the Memorial Cup, the LPGA Canadian Women’s Open, the Congress of the Humanities. Together, he expects those events to pour millions of tourist dollars into Regina this year.
Fougere acknowledged that the city has faced revenue challenges over the past two years, driven by provincial cuts. But he sees bright spots on the economic horizon. He cited projections pegging Saskatchewan’s economic growth at around 2.5 per cent in 2018 and 2019.
That growth, he argued, will provide the resources to address Regina’s biggest challenges: Homelessness and the infrastructure gap.
“There are some challenges that we’ll be facing,” he said. “We have some stubborn issues like homelessness and affordable housing to deal with.”
He pointed to the anti-homelessness strategy that formed a major plank in his last campaign, a plan that’s only now beginning to come together.
He said the city will play a “central role” in the initiative, which is built around the idea of achieving “functional zero homelessness.”
But the mayor kept coming back to the positives. He celebrated development projects, especially the proposed Chuka Creek Business Park, which he said will help address “sluggish industrial development.”
The audience of councillors, MLAs and business leaders routinely applauded the mayor’s good-news speech. Economic Development Regina vice-president David Froh said Fougere’s message resonates with his view of Regina.
“We don’t have mountains and oceans,” he said. “But we’ve got hard work and we’ve got innovation.”