Vacant council seat could signal major change

Change is coming to Saskatoon city council.

Veteran Coun. Ann Iwanchuk guaranteed that outcome in November’s municipal election when she announced last week she had changed her mind and decided against a re-election bid.

A vacated city council seat happens in most elections but Iwanchuk’s decision to leave

Ward 3 could have wider implications.

This council has distinguished itself with a number of controversial decisions and by the obvious division that resulted in many initiatives proceeding or failing with a 6-5 vote.

With each vote key, a departing councillor signals the possibility of immense change.

Iwanchuk won Ward 3 in a 2011 byelection to replace Maurice Neault, who had died unexpectedly. She won re-election in 2012 by 28 votes over Mike San Miguel and then cruised to victory in 2016 with 73 per cent of the vote.

Iwanchuk will be remembered as a staunch foe of changes to waste collection, despite Saskatoon’s dismal landfill diversion rate, and who pushed for increased snow removal.

She impressively convinced all but one councillor to support multi-year property tax increases in 2015 to move toward a citywide snow removal program. Yet the program remains a dream.

Those increases proved to be tempting places to cut in subsequent budgets, but snow clearing has improved through higher funding. Iwanchuk also lobbied for a controversial anti-bullying bylaw in 2016 that was ultimately rejected.

She voted against the introduction of a new organic waste collection program in 2023, against a $67.5-million loan to build a new downtown library and against a downtown cycling network.

She also voted against a study of lower residential speed limits, even though that initiative stems from a study she requested in 2017.

She voted in favour of backyard fire time limits and for special consideration for a solar community that council rejected. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Iwanchuk opposed a failed attempt by Mayor Charlie Clark to ban union and corporate donations at the municipal level.

Iwanchuk, who works for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and had to excuse herself from votes on CUPE matters, raised more than $10,000 for her 2016 campaign from public service unions. That’s the highest union/ corporate funding for any council candidate.

Iwanchuk’s departure might be welcomed by those who oppose the influence of unions and corporations in politics, although it’s worth pointing out she never operated or voted like a left-wing toady. She often sided with centre-right councillors like Troy Davies, Randy Donauer and Bev Dubois.

Iwanchuk seemed to try genuinely to represent the views of the constituents of her westside ward. She never seemed driven by a desire to hear her own voice.

As a councillor who holds down a full-time job, Iwanchuk is now among a minority on Saskatoon council. That issue could become key in the race to replace her.

With nine incumbent councillors either running for re-election or likely to do so and Clark expected to announce he will seek another term as mayor, Ward 3 provides the best vehicle for change.

In 2016, two of the vacant seats each attracted seven candidates. Former councillor Tiffany Paulsen topped a field of 15 candidates to fill an empty seat in 2000.

Chris Sicotte, who announced his campaign to replace Iwanchuk the same day she opted out, is well-positioned to become the first openly Indigenous person elected to Saskatoon city council.

Coun. Zach Jeffries became the first Indigenous person elected to council in 2012, although many may not have realized it. Jeffries said in 2016 he does not advertise his heritage and his Indigenous ancestry was only one part of his background.

Sicotte brings with him a long record of involvement with Indigenous organizations as well as with community groups. He just ended a run as chair of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.

Former cabinet minister Rob Norris is engaged in a strong outsider challenge for mayor and, in each of the last two elections, one incumbent councillor has failed to win re-election. November’s vote could well bring more change than many were expecting.