Meet Saskatoon mayoral candidate Don Atchison

It’s been eight years since Don Atchison’s 13-year run as mayor of Saskatoon ended, but the longest serving mayor in the city’s history is as passionate as ever, and he wants another crack at the job.

“I didn’t want to be a premier, I didn't want to be an MP. I didn't want to be any of that. I just want to be in Saskatoon to help the people out in our community,” Atchison said Thursday.

Sitting along the riverbank of the South Saskatchewan River with River Landing behind him, Atchison is reminded of what can be achieved over time.

After all, he was the mayor who spent years to get the River Landing project off the ground after many failed attempts. While he wasn’t mayor when the new high rises opened, he says that vision of a future that can inspire people is missing from this mayoral race.

“I just see our city right now. It’s drifting. There's no vision. There's no future,” Atchison said. “And I have those type of plans available, and I want to be able to help the city again to move forward.”

Atchison placed third in the 2020 election, falling behind Rob Norris and Charlie Clark. In 2016, he lost his bid for a fifth term in office, placing second to Clark. Atchison has run in every election dating back to his 2003 win.

This time around, he’s focused on safety, common sense spending and homelessness as his top priorities.

Atchison has touted 3D printed trailers as a potential way to mitigate homelessness, as well as “tiny homes,” which he says can be deployed in more areas and are a more cost-effective option than pricey shelters.

He’s also pointed to a decline in the number of new attainable housing built in Saskatoon since he left office. In 2016, there were 525 units built, above the target of 400. In 2021, there were 120 of the same units, below a target of 200.

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Atchison said housing and homelessness should be prioritized above an entertainment district surrounding Midtown.

“If we can spend $30 million to put towards a new rink downtown that we don't need today, are you telling me that we can't spend $3 million on building tiny homes to save people from the weather this winter?” Atchison said.

Atchison says the city shouldn’t entertain the idea of an entire entertainment district downtown when business owners are locking their doors during business hours and boarding up broken windows from vandalism.

He says if downtown isn’t safe and secure, no one will spend any time downtown.

Another campaign promise Atchison is confident about is pitching a zero per cent tax increase, even though tax increases under Atchison’s 13-year run averaged slightly higher than the tax increases the past eight years he’s been away from City Hall.

“Will it be easy? The answer is, definitely not. But that's why you get elected, to make tough decisions,” he said.

“The City of Saskatoon will never go bankrupt, but businesses and individuals will go bankrupt. And we need to do whatever we can to help make sure that that doesn't happen.”

Atchison claims he’ll be able to achieve this by implementing a hiring freeze at City Hall (outside of police and fire recruits) and by reducing budgets in other departments.

“We need to focus on strictly what are the needs of Saskatoon, not what the wants are,” he said.

Over the next decade, Atchison says Saskatoon could do plenty more to incentivize and target economic growth.

As small modular nuclear reactors look to change energy production and consumption in Saskatchewan, Atchison said the city could be a national leader in nuclear power.

As Saskatoon continues to grow and change, he feels the city could be doing better and he’s the guy to make it happen.

“I want children to have hope and opportunity that they can succeed,” he said.

“And yes, they can make a difference and yes, they can have their dreams fulfilled at some point in time. That's why I'm being involved and running for the mayor of the City of Saskatoon.”