Mayor Fougere reviews 2018 in the Queen City

Just before the end of 2018, 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick sat down with Regina’s mayor, Michael Fougere, to talk about the year that was, and how it went for him and the city.

Lisa Schick: Looking back on 2018, what are your highlights?

Michael Fougere: Lots of highlights, because it was a very interesting year and a very eventful year, but it’s what I call the “year of events,” that was what stood out for us. It was all the events we had, like the Tim Horton’s Brier, the Memorial Cup, the National University Women’s Basketball Championship, the LPGA tournament that we had here and of course the Congress of the Humanities — the biggest event we’ve ever had in the city for conferences.

That really showcased our city and showed what we can do in terms of volunteers. But, we had between four- and 500-million people watch the golf tournament here in the city, and that’s really, like you can’t buy that advertising. And there’s lots of vignettes that were shown throughout the tournament about Regina and about Saskatchewan, and I think that’s just wonderful. So, it was a good way to showcase our city.

LS: Did you have a favourite event?

MF: The golfing was really good. Because it’s never been here before, it’s a unique thing, and, again, we really had a tremendous amount of volunteers and the LPGA and CP were really bragging about it and raving about how well we put that event on, so, that’s wonderful.

LS: Were there any regrets or struggles in the past year that stand out for you?

MF: Well, you know, I never really think in those sort of terms, but I think one of the issues I would liked to have moved on a bit quicker is for the Ring Road report, for the tracks on Ring Road. That stops a lot of traffic, and to me that’s a hurry-up-to-get-that-one-done because I think it’s important we do that. There’s lots of frustration by drivers out there and commuters, and if we can move that forward quickly that’d be really good.

LS: Maple Leaf Pool was kind of the big thing from this budget, a big issue the last few weeks. How do you feel about how that went?

MF: It went well. We’re never in the business of trying to reduce services and cause any angst for residents who live anywhere in the city. But, we do have a pool that is end-of-life that we cannot continue with; engineering says we can’t open it, it’s a public safety issue. So our thought was, initially going, that we would try to animate that location where Maple Leaf Pool is with a different kind of activity, but clearly the residents felt otherwise, and so did council.

LS: A big thing that’s been happening through part of this year is the struggle with Capital Pointe and the hole at Victoria and Albert.

MF: This is frustrating, no doubt about that. There’s been no development for years on that site, and we continue to be speaking with provincial tribunals and going to court to see if we can make this come to a decision — either fill the hole in or build the project. And that’s what we’re trying to find out, and we’re before another tribunal report again, we’ll see where that goes from there.

It’s frustrating because that’s the gateway to our downtown, it’s very highly visible, and we think, I think, it’s not a safe site either. And we need to some way come to a conclusion on this one.

LS: Wascana Park has been a big thing for a lot of people in the city as well this year, and the movement on developments there. So, looking back, how do you feel about how that went?

MF: Well, I think this is a missed opportunity in some ways. The (provincial) government changed the governance structure that removed from a sense of parity the (University of Regina) and the city, so we’re a junior partner on the board, which is frustrating for us.

Council did unanimously agree to a motion that said we wanted no further development in the park, commercial development in the park, that didn’t follow the master plan; we wanted public consultation. That’s a statement of concern to sort of get the attention of the province by governance — have us as an equal partner, but let’s be clear and cautious about how we develop that park.

The province has listened to us of course, and they agree that development will take place, but they agree it should be with the master plan. What that looks like in the future, we won’t have a great deal of say in that because we do not have the equal standing that the province has, so governance, the change that is critical to a balanced development of the park.

LS: Wascana Park is right smack in the middle of the city, is that something that you wish the city did have more say in again?

MF: I go to the point if it isn’t broke, why fix it? The original structure of the board with, again, three partners that were equal, and we had private sector participation as well, it worked very well and there was never a problem. So I’m not sure why they wanted the change, perhaps it was so they wanted to have development under their own terms, and they could do that because it’s an act of the legislature. But, the partners, the city in particular, invested a lot of money in that park and we want to have equal say as well.

LS: You’ve been in this job for a while now, are there any surprises anymore being mayor of Regina?

MF: Not really. I mean there’s lots of challenges and opportunities, but no real surprises. It’s the best job in the city. I love the job very much, can’t wait to get to work every day. Our colleagues have strong opinions, different views, and it makes for better decisions all the time. I think things are great.