Ex-cabinet minister Rob Norris eyes mayoral bid

A former provincial cabinet minister and Saskatoon MLA is preparing for a run at the mayor’s chair in 2020.

Rob Norris, who represented the Saskatoon Greystone riding as a Saskatchewan Party MLA from 2007 to 2016, said Wednesday that he has assembled a team of about seven volunteers to continue to explore a mayoral bid.

“I’m certainly making sure my running shoes are comfortable,” he said.

He expects to make an official announcement before Christmas. The election campaign is scheduled for next October.

Norris said he has attended 50 events in Saskatoon over the past four or five months to gather input on the issues residents consider important.

“A lot of people are already beginning to talk about a change election for Saskatoon,” Norris said.

His campaign will focus on a more safe and secure city, and on serving as an “economic champion” for the city, he said.

“Frankly, Mayor Charlie Clark, a lot of people think he’s soft on crime,” he added.

Clark said on Thursday that he will make an announcement about his intention to run for a second term closer to the election.

In the meantime, he will be happy to have a conversation with Norris about any concerns, as he would with any private citizen, but if Norris officially announces a campaign, that could change his willingness to respond, the firstterm mayor said.

“I’m not interested in sort of a back and forth with a private citizen in the media,” he said.

Clark said safety is among the areas he intends to focus on during the year left in his term.

Norris acknowledged the people who are encouraging him to run for mayor include the business community and newcomers to Canada living in Saskatoon.

His campaign will also focus on property taxes rising too high and too fast, and the feeling city hall is too “obtrusive,” he said.

Dozens of people have contacted him to volunteer for his potential campaign, Norris said, adding that he has heard former mayor Don Atchison, who was defeated by Clark in 2016, might also consider running.

Atchison was a “terrific mayor,” but he thinks the city needs to look forward, Norris said.

Atchison declined to speculate on a 2020 campaign when contacted on Wednesday.

A lot of people are already beginning to talk about a change election for Saskatoon.

He said there is a lot of time before the next election and repeated he will “never” set a date to make a decision.

“I’m just slaving away here,” said Atchison, who works as a consultant with Canwest Commercial & Land Development.

Coun. Bev Dubois, who is serving her fourth term on council, said she is definitely running again in 2020, possibly for mayor.

Dubois said in a text message on Thursday that she has yet to decide if she will run for a council seat again or make a bid for mayor.

Kelley Moore, who placed third in the 2016 mayoral race, could not be reached for comment.

Nominations for the 2020 election close on Oct. 7, a date that falls in the middle of next year’s provincial election.

The municipal vote is scheduled to be held on Nov. 9.