Saskatoon election group linked to former Sask. Party candidate
A Better YXE attempts to stir controversy about council, dabbles in misinformation
A provocative anonymous website encouraging change for this fall's Saskatoon civic election is linked to a former Saskatchewan Party candidate and a significant donor for the governing provincial party.
The website A Better YXE invites people to join “a group of concerned citizens who decided to start a grassroots movement,” but includes no names of the people involved other than Greater Saskatoon Consulting Inc.
A corporate registry search revealed Greater Saskatoon Consulting was incorporated by 2020 Saskatchewan Party candidate Rylund Hunter, a Saskatoon lawyer and businessman, who lost a close race to former NDP leader Ryan Meili for the Saskatoon Meewasin seat.
The incorporator is the lawyer who submits the documents and may have no further involvement with the corporation.
The non-profit corporation lists as its address the same address on Main Street in Saskatoon as the Mcdougall Gauley law firm that named Hunter a partner in January.
He's described on the law firm's website as a corporate commercial and real estate lawyer.
The email address provided for the company in the corporate registry is also an address linked to the law firm, as is the submitter of the information, Adria Perrier. The Greater Saskatoon Consulting Inc. company, described as performing marketing research and public opinion polling, was incorporated on Feb. 6, 2023.
Mcdougall Gauley donates to both of the province's two main political parties, but far more to the Saskatchewan Party. In 2022, the law firm donated $7,760 to the Saskatchewan Party and $701.76 to the Saskatchewan New Democrats.
In 2020, the last election year, Mcdougall Gauley donated $47,360 to the Saskatchewan Party and $10,000 to the NDP.
Saskatchewan Party president Patrick Bundrock said in an emailed response Tuesday that his party is not involved in municipal campaigns.
The corporate registration lists “Miles Heidt” as the sole director of Greater Saskatoon Consulting Inc. Myles Heidt served as a Saskatoon city councillor for 18 years before retiring in 2012. His Facebook account has commented on some of the Facebook posts by A Better YXE.
Hunter declined comment when contacted by phone Wednesday. The law firm and Heidt did not immediately reply to requests for comment sent this week.
The website asks people to join by providing their personal information.
In small print on the website, it says the information will be handled “in accordance with our privacy policy,” which is not published on the website.
The website's Facebook posts made under a page with the same name began last year. A January post says the group changed its name from Changeyxe. A December post links to an unfinished website called changeyxe. com.
Another December post says “It's time Saskatoon looks past career politicians and elect a mayor outside of the city hall establishment, something that hasn't been done in 60 years.”
The Facebook page, which has more than 900 followers, attempts to stir controversy over council decisions and dabbles in misinformation. A post from September said council “put a homeless shelter in a suburb,” referring to the wellness centre near Fairhaven.
That shelter is funded by the provincial government in a former church purchased by a provincial agency and run by the Saskatoon Tribal Council. Saskatoon city hall played no role in the decision to place the shelter there.
Another post from February that was circulated widely as a Facebook ad featured a quote from Coun. Cynthia Block taken from a TV interview she did last summer. The quote, taken out of context, suggests the 2023 budget was not in a deficit situation.
Yet Block, who is considering running for mayor, was entirely correct. In fact, the city finished the 2023 budget year with a $10-million surplus. That failed to stop a barrage of ignorant people from responding to the post on Facebook with suggestions that Block was out of touch or somehow wrong.
Heidt's Facebook account posted the comment “unbelievable” in response. That particular post also used a Starphoenix photo of Block without permission.
The Facebook posts frequently quote news reports, but include no links since Facebook has blocked users from linking to news websites over a dispute with the federal government.
A December post on the changing of the name of John A. Macdonald Road calls current Mayor Charlie Clark “cancel-culture Charlie.” Clark announced in January he will not seek a third term as mayor.
If this effort is connected to a campaign for city council, the spending on Facebook ads could violate election spending rules, which stipulate that expenses can only be incurred from June 1 to Dec. 15 in an election year.
Regardless of the motive behind the group, it suggests, at best, a divisive election lies ahead and, at worst, an ugly one.