STATE OF THE CITY
Mayor Michael Fougere touched on issues including rail blockades, street repairs and downtown revitalization plans during his annual address and Q&A on Thursday.
Mayor Michael Fougere kept his eighth state of the city address short and sweet this year to leave time for a Q&A session that covered a range of topics from a lack of U.S. flights to the recent spate of rail blockades.
“I’d like to think everything has gone according to plan, but I’m also a realist,” said Fougere reflecting on the past 10 to 15 years.
“I’ll be the first to admit that we have some big issues and we have a way to go to address those issues,” he added.
He spoke of the challenges over the past year, including long wait times for development permits and inspections — a barrier to economic growth — and last summer’s road construction flub, which saw several projects on the go at the same time across the city, causing headaches for many commuters.
To address those challenges, a permit process review was done, and the city has committed to processing residential development permits within five days and commercial development permits within 10 days.
The city has also committed to spreading out construction projects to be less inconvenient for drivers, and 24 hour and weekend work as well as incentives for private construction companies to get projects done more quickly.
He also highlighted a critical need to continue investing in the city’s downtown, the reason council recently approved the creation of a City Centre District to co-ordinate major developments that connect the former rail yard lands, Evraz Place, and old Taylor Field to the downtown.
“We need to ensure that our collective future is planned and well thought out,” said Fougere.
He used words like “upset” and “angry” when asked during the Q&A portion of the event to characterize how Regina residents are feeling since the federal election left no Saskatchewan representation in the House of Commons.
He spoke about feelings of alienation and about Saskatchewan voices not being heard, especially when it comes to getting Prairie oil to tidewater. He expressed frustration over Canada’s difficulties in getting pipelines built.
“The focus really has to be on how can we nurture that growth, not how we can inhibit it or frame it. How do we make sure it happens?” said Fougere.
Considering how big a role exports play in Saskatchewan’s economy Fougere was also asked for his view on the rail blockades that have been set up to oppose the Coastal Gaslink project.
“It’s unnecessary,” said Fougere. “We must deal with reconciliation, but we also need to get our products to market . ... To say we have constraints to get basic and valuable products to international markets is a shame.”
Others attendees wanted to know where in the timeline of the Railyard Renewal Project the city is today.
As he’s emphasized in the recent past, the majority of the project will depend on the timing of private investment, something the city can’t control, but said residents will see some preliminary site work done this year on Dewdney Avenue around the rail yard lands.
In the end, Fougere’s message centred on the importance of economic development and playing off the city’s natural strengths like oil and gas and manufacturing.
“Now that our economy is softening and there is some uncertainty, council must turn its attention to managing and encouraging growth, encouraging those job opportunities, job creation and investment,” he said. “Our focus must be on being competitive in the marketplace, an attractive place to invest, to start a business and to expand operations.”