tank: democracy dollar discrepancy deepens between regina, saskatoon
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saskatoon mayor cynthia block and regina mayor chad bachynski.
michelle berg / kayle neis
political newcomer chad bachynski spent just $12,088 on his successful campaign for mayor in regina, upsetting two council veterans who spent far more.
in saskatoon, which has a mayoral campaign spending limit nearly four times as high as regina’s, the highest-spending candidate also lost.
but the discrepancy between the money spent in two cities of similar size in the same province is stunning.
bachynski’s meagre outlay got him just under 32 per cent of the vote in a three-way race between incumbent councillor lori bresciani (who spent $24,208) and sitting mayor sandra masters ($61,798), who finished third.
in saskatoon, former saskatchewan party cabinet minister gord wyant spent $274,464.80 on his campaign — the most ever on a saskatoon mayoral bid — only to finish just below 30 per cent.
notably, wyant said during the campaign he thought the $277,809.40 spending limit (based on saskatoon’s population) was too high and restricted the number of people who could run for mayor. regina’s limit was set at $73,859.
wyant’s declared campaign surplus of $17,488.20 alone dwarfed bachynski’s entire budget.
saskatoon’s highest-spending council candidate, newcomer senos timon, who topped the polls in ward 2, spent more than twice what bachynski did, just under the $27,780.94 ceiling. regina’s spending for ward campaigns is set at $12,236.
veteran saskatoon coun. bev dubois spent $11,259.83 on her campaign, even though she was acclaimed.
in only one saskatoon ward race did no candidate spend more than bachynski. in vacant ward 8, four candidates spent more than $12,088.
total spending on saskatoon mayoral campaigns topped half a million dollars for the second straight election, while regina challengers shelled out $141,194.
bachynski described his mayoral bid as a “true grassroots, word-of-mouth campaign.” but could that ever work in saskatoon, which has only once elected a city hall outsider as mayor — angus macpherson back in 1944?
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regina just elected two consecutive mayors from outside city hall. and four-term mayor pat fiacco was also a political newcomer when first elected.
lower spending limits may translate to higher council turnover in regina and an easier time challenging incumbents. in saskatoon, just four incumbents have lost in the last four elections, including veteran darren hill in november (after 18 years) and former mayor don atchison in 2016 (after 22 years).
but does higher turnover produce better governance? or just a steep learning curve for all those new faces? and is continuity a strength, or does it just prevent fresh ideas and perspectives on council?
you would be hard-pressed to find a better incubator for comparison of these two models than turnover-prone regina versus stability-minded saskatoon.
in regina, only two incumbents survived the last election. despite the departure of an unusually high six incumbents, saskatoon retained five council veterans, including mayor cynthia block, who handily defeated wyant.
block became the first mayor elected in saskatoon despite being outspent. block lagged wyant’s spending by $68,855.45 — more than the total amount spent by any mayoral candidate in regina. four saskatoon councillors also won seats despite being outspent.
so money is not only the factor. but it’s difficult to ignore. atchison spent just $18,393.97 on his third straight losing campaign for mayor with about 15 per cent of the vote in november despite name recognition and experience.
true, voters may have tired of atchison, but it’s difficult to imagine a low-spending campaign like bachynski’s putting a dent in the support of saskatoon’s big spenders.
saskatoon city council critic cary tarasoff spent $4,449.31 on a campaign as a political outsider, just slightly more than he spent on a similar bid in 2020. tarasoff attracted less than 10 per cent of the vote, dampening the prospects of future frugal mayoral bids.
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indeed, the last time a saskatoon mayor won election with spending in the neighbourhood of bachynski’s 2024 campaign came in 1988, when henry dayday estimated he spent about $20,000.
back then, the combined totals of the saskatoon mayoral campaigns totalled less than the $70,000 doug archer spent to win the mayor’s seat in regina. (fiacco defeated archer in 2000.)
whether the reversal of that spending trend has benefitted or hindered either city is worth debating.
phil tank is the digital opinion editor at the saskatoon starphoenix.
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