Ex-mayor says referendums needed on key issues
Referendums were once a fixture in Saskatoon, but 15 years have passed since the last such vote, rejecting a downtown casino after a contentious campaign. Phil Tank talked with former mayor Henry Dayday about using referendums to decide the big issues.
Q Why do you think it’s been 15 years without a referendum?
A I have no idea. I have always felt that it’s the taxpayer that pays the bill at the end of the day, so if it’s a big major project, or if it’s changing things in our city, they should get to vote on it and decide if they want it changed or not. And I don’t know why they all of a sudden discontinued it — either because they didn’t have much confidence in what they were doing, or they just thought it’s up to them to make the decision. You’ll hear that from a lot of councillors who say: ‘Well, we were elected to make that decision and we should be making it.’
Q What do you think has been lost by not having regular votes by the people?
A Anytime we had a referendum it seemed the percentage of voters would go up, usually double over the years where there was no plebiscite held. So I think we lost the fact that people participate if they have a reason to participate, and if there’s nothing for them there, they just don’t bother.
Q One criticism of referendums — and you heard this with both the arena and casino referendums in Saskatoon — is that there’s a lot of misinformation in the campaigns.
What’s your response?
A Well, you can be misinformed without a referendum. You can be misinformed about the candidates and so forth. So I don’t see that as an explanation.
Q You called for a referendum on bike lanes downtown. Do you think every issue like that should be decided by referendum? A No, not every issue, but I think the major issues should be. I wrote the letter to council about the bike lanes because it’s a major change. We just spent half a billion dollars on bridges to open up more lanes for cars and then we’re turning around and talking about closing a major lane from traffic for bicycles. And I’m saying there’s something wrong with this picture.
Q In 2018, there were a lot of controversial issues, from garbage user fees to backyard fires. Can you think of one issue that people should be voting on?
A If the city plans to make major changes to the downtown area, I think that’s the kind of thing that the people have to vote on, because there’s going to be major expenses. The people should get a chance to vote on any major changes to the downtown.
This interview has been condensed and edited. ptank@postmedia.com twitter.com/thinktanksk