November 6, 2024 | Advertise with us

Be campaign ready.

Presented by

Regina Mayoral candidates release platforms

The race for Mayor of Regina is heating up as voters head to the polls next week.

Incumbent Mayor Sandra Masters is facing ten challengers for the job, including incumbent city councillor Lori Bresciani. The two are the only elected officials vying for the top job.

Masters released her platform last week. Safer communities, financial transparency, and a focus on infrastructure are her top three priorities. She said, “This means things like prioritizing investments in school crosswalks to lighting in downtown and across the city. Establishing neighbourhood watch programs in collaboration with the Regina Police Service. Things like planning for the next rapid housing initiative. We know it's needed, and we're expecting it to be offered, so let's get ready.”

Masters also vowed this would be her last term in the position, saying she is in favour of term limits. She said, “I am more committed now than I was four years ago. I understand more what's at stake. We can't afford to go backwards, can't afford to stand still, or start again.” Her campaign slogan is Moving Regina Forward.

Bresciani announced her platform yesterday. She said her campaign is prioritizing strong, focused leadership. Her three major planks include financial accountability, community safety, and fundamental core services. At her platform launch, Bresciani committed to bringing post-secondary institutions downtown and revitalizing the city’s core. She was also endorsed by former Mayor Pat Fiacco. Fiacco says Bresciani can unite the council and that “there’s nothing wrong with saying I love Regina.”

The municipal election is next week, November 13. The SKoop will bring you results from across the province.

Sponsored by the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association

Learn more about the great work the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association and its members are doing at saskheavy.ca.

NDP campaign director reflects on provincial election

Saskatchewan NDP campaign director Cheryl Oates has experience in several election battles, and now she’s writing about the one that just concluded.

Ms. Oates served as the Executive Director of Communication and Planning to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley from 2015 to 2019. She is currently a Principal at public affairs firm GT & Co. and also co-hosts an Alberta-based political podcast The Discourse with Erika Barootes. Oates began her career as a journalist for Global News.

Oates penned her thoughts in a post to her Substack earlier this week, reflecting on the outcome and process of the recent Saskatchewan provincial election.

Oates wrote about the moment when she and NDP leader Carla Beck knew they had lost, saying, “At around 10:30 p.m., a tranche of results from our scrutineers arrived. I looked up at Carla Beck, leader of the Saskatchewan NDP, and quietly told her, “We’re going to lose both Moose Jaws.” In that moment, though we didn’t say it aloud, we both understood that the narrow path to victory we had painstakingly built over the last two years and fiercely fought for the past four weeks was slipping beyond reach.”

The campaign director described two early goals; the first was to chip away at Premier Scott Moe’s high approval rating, and the second was to ensure everyone in Saskatchewan knew Carla Beck.

On the result, Oates wrote, “The NDP’s dominance in Regina and Saskatoon shows that, in times of crisis, voters want more than talking points and finger-pointing. Beck offered concrete solutions to the province’s toughest challenges, and her campaign was one of integrity and optimism.”

Writing that Beck had lit a fire, Oates gave advice for the party moving forward, “With the largest Official Opposition the province has seen in decades and a growing base of support, the NDP can’t become complacent. We must double down in the cities and find ways to reach into rural ridings to position ourselves as the hopeful voice of Saskatchewan’s future come 2028.”

Sponsored by Advertiser

Billboards in Regina draw a response from Masters

Regina voters may have seen new billboards around town with the slogan, “Had enough of this experience, Regina?” The billboards include pictures of Mayor Sandra Masters, as well as councillors Bob Hawkins and Jason Mancinelli.

Masters was not happy with the billboards, saying recently, "I would assume that they would have a candidate for mayor that they're supporting." She continued, "It feels underhanded. A way to break the rules. If you're the candidate they're supporting, you get to stay perfectly clean."

‘Common Sense Regina’ is the group behind the ad campaign. Peter McCaffrey runs the Alberta-based think tank the Alberta Institute and is a spokesperson for Common Sense Regina. He told CBC News that there are 14 other ‘Common Sense’ campaigns in different municipalities across the country, including Saskatoon. He said the organizations are also libertarian, advocating for limited government focused on core services rather than getting involved in health, education, social services or civil liberties issues. He claims the Regina organization has more than 2,000 supporters, activists and volunteers.

McCaffrey decided to put Masters, Hawkins and Mancinelli on the billboard, saying, “They are emblematic of the challenges that we saw at city hall in the last term and they're running again. We're not going to highlight all of the previous councillors who aren't even running again, that would not make sense."

There are currently no bylaws or provincial legislation in Saskatchewan that prohibits or limits third-party advertising during elections. Third-parties refer to organizations or groups that engage in advocacy or advertising during elections to support or oppose political positions or candidates, including unions or privately-funded groups.

More news and info

• Singh and May are welcome in N.S. campaign, but Trudeau and Poilievre not so much (CBC News)

• 'Be ready for both': Canadians prepare for any outcome as Americans head to the polls (Canadian Press)

• 'Our right to be here': Metis Nation of Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly continues (CTV Regina)