Cynthia Block will be Saskatoon's next mayor
Cynthia Block is the 29th mayor of Saskatoon, and the first woman elected to the position in the city's history.
Block lead with 27,415 votes by publication time, with all but two polls reporting. Runner up Gordon Wyant, had just under 19,000 votes.
Block was the only member of the previous council in the running for mayor. She represented Ward 6 for the last eight years before making her bid for the mayor’s chair.
Throughout the campaign, she fought the characterization that she was the torch bearer for outgoing mayor Charlie Clark’s old regime.
“I try to hear all sides, and then I do my homework. I read the evidence and the data that exists, and then it's a judgment call in the field,” she told CTV News in an interview earlier this month.
“That's the process that I take, and if it happens to align more or less with one colleague or another, that's never going to be how I make a decision.
“It will always be based on the foundational principles of what I think good governance looks like.”
Former mayor Clark opted not to seek another term.
Wyant, the runner up, was a former Saskatchewan Party cabinet minister. No stranger to Saskatoon’s city hall, Wyant was elected councillor as Ward 5 in 2003. He served until 2010, when he successfully ran for a seat in the provincial legislature.
His attempt to return to city hall followed on the heels of a provincial election that saw the Sask. Party lose all but one of its seats in the province’s two largest cities.
Former Saskatoon mayor Don Atchison came in third, with 9,517 votes at publication time. Atchison served as mayor from 2003 to 2016, presiding over an unprecedented expansion of the city and the highest tax increase in recent memory — 7.43 per cent in 2014.
Cary Tarasoff came in fourth, with 5,900 votes at publication time. Tarasoff has been a vocal critic of city spending for years, and a noted voice in opposition to the federal housing plan that forced sweeping changes to city zoning to fast track the construction of higher density housing in established neighbourhoods.
It’s unclear if Wyant’s association to the Sask. Party hurt his chances at victory, but he did make efforts to differentiate his positions from his former provincial cabinet mates.
Wyant spoke out against a private Christian school embroiled in abuse allegations after an email surfaced last month showing school officials making direct overtures to Wyant — a former education minister.
Meanwhile, the school has faced virtually no sanction from the provincial government and has rebranded as Valour Academy.
With no incumbent running in five council seats, Block will preside over a chamber full of new faces.
They step into the role as the City of Saskatoon struggles against major financial headwinds.
Last year, councillors approved the highest property tax increase in a decade in the face of inflationary pressures. Many newcomer candidates campaigned on promises to take a hard look at city programs and refocus on core services.
In her campaign, Block cautioned that the programs they’re concerned with make up just a “fraction of one per cent” of the budget. The bulk of the budget is already tied to those core services, she said.
Block described the problem as structural.
Property taxes are the only means cities have of generating revenue, unlike other levels of government. Block has advocated for cities to create coalitions to lobby the federal government for baseline funding for municipal services.
-With files from Keenan Sorokan
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
FBI releases new image of Canadian former Olympian sought on murder and drug charges
The FBI has released a new image of Ryan James Wedding, the Canadian ex-Olympian allegedly behind a deadly international drug ring.
RFK Jr.'s to-do list to make America 'healthy' has health experts worried
U.S. President Donald Trump's pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services "is an extraordinarily bad choice for the health of the American people," warns the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
DEVELOPING Canada Post workers go on strike Friday morning, disrupting deliveries
Canada Post workers are on strike after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says approximately 55,000 workers are striking.
Donald Trump is not yet president, but his plans already loom large over global summits
Even though he won’t be there, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will loom over talks at two global summits in South America this week.
Police in Canada collected wreckage after object shot down over Lake Huron
Newly released documents show the Royal Canadian Mounted Police collected wreckage after an unidentified object was shot down over Lake Huron in February of last year.
opinion Canada's immigration crackdown could make for a more willing partner in Trump
Washington political analyst Eric Ham says recent immigration crackdowns in Canada could be the basis for a friendlier relationship with the U.S., during President-elect Donald Trump's second four-year term.
W5 Exclusive Police bust reveals stolen vehicles en route from Canada to Africa – with reprogrammed key fobs
In part three of a CTV W5 investigation into how car thieves are able to drive off with modern cars so easily, correspondent Jon Woodward accompanied York Regional Police on a bust to find clues in one vehicle.
Canada Post workers are on strike. Here's what you need to know about your mail
Workers at Canada Post went on strike Friday in a move that is expected to create delays and other disruptions to mail and parcel delivery — just as the Crown corporation prepares for what's typically its busiest period.
Toronto couple fights over Taylor Swift tickets in divorce settlement
A Toronto couple bought two tickets to one of Taylor Swift's tour stops in the city, but unfortunately their love story didn't last and now they're fighting for who gets the seats.