Dionne’s State of the City speech draws strong reaction, but no apology for weight ‘joke’

The response to Mayor Greg Dionne’s State of the City Address has been swift and strong against some of the comments he made on Thursday at the Ches Leach Lounge.

When reached for comment on Friday, Dionne did not apologize for the comments he made about Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison’s weight. Instead, he expressed his disappointment that paNOW’s previous story about his address “made an issue out of a joke I made of my friend of 40 years, the Mayor of Saskatoon, and that there wasn’t anything else to report of the State of the City Address but that, and I’m sad that [the reporter]’s made an issue of it, and I have no further comment.”

In front of an audience of 350 people, mainly members of the business community, Dionne declared he would not be taking part in the mayor’s caucus at this year’s Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention. And in the midst of arguing against the mayors’ support for protecting funding levels from PST transfers as the province is faced with belt-tightening due to falling oil revenues, he called on cities to look at putting their big infrastructure projects on hold.

Specifically, he referenced Saskatoon’s North Commuter Bridge project. He also said Regina’s bypass project could also be put on hold as a way to free up federal infrastructure money.

But it was this comment about Atchison that has been drawing criticism online – and from other members of city council:

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“You got nine other bridges, you can wait a couple more years, you whined about these ones for the last couple, that’s why the river level came up. But you know, you can walk a little and maybe the mayor there will lose some weight, if he didn’t have to walk out of his office. That’s why he’s heavier than me, because he walks out of his office 10 feet and he’s on a bridge.”

The reaction online to this comment has been overwhelmingly critical of the mayor.

From Facebook:

“Making fun of other people’s looks including their weight is a form of bullying as far as I am concerned. Not classy. And not relevant to the topic. It’s too bad the audience laughed. It only encourages bullying.”

From Twitter:

“VIDEO: P.A. mayor pokes fun at #yxe mayor’s weight … That’s some PA-style class right there. And hello, pot, kettle.”

From comments posted on paNOW:

“Would it not be better to go, to the meeting, and try and make your point in person. Making jabs at people and cities and then not facing the people you were jabbing, is basically a cowards move. I believe the Mayor has a good point but to turn it into a mudslinging contest is immature.”

“I am embarrassed for P.A. I also wish Dionne well but truly hope he is not re-elected for another term.”

“Wow. If our mayor was looking for attention, he found it. After these public comments, Dionne not attending the mayor’s meeting at SUMA, that will show them. The parts of the convention he does attend and express his concerns, who will take him seriously? Saskatoon & Regina are progressive, growing cities. They plan their mega projects, raise the capital dollars they are required to contribute, apply for prov. & federal funding, execute. What mega project is PA delaying, one that is planned with all funding in place? We could learn a lot from Saskatoon & Regina. Not only does our Mayor express his personal opinion on behalf of PA, he throws a cheap shot at Mayor Atch. Atch is in his fourth term as Mayor & was on council for 9 years. Must be doing something right. Dionne, whatever part of SUMA you are attending, good luck, you will need it. An apology can’t come soon enough.”

Members of council praised the speech overall, which touched on the infrastructure achievements of 2014 – the roads paved, the revamped meeting structure, the new hires at City Hall and the passage of the 2015 budget in December 2014.

Coun. Martin Ring agrees fully with Dionne that there have been a number of positives. But the City is also facing challenges, such as the infrastructure backlog. “People have to be aware, I think we’re doing our best to try and seek out solutions for the infrastructure backlog. It’s significant dollars obviously, and we continue to forge ahead and look for new opportunities.”

However, he said he was marginally disappointed by some of the “shots” Dionne took at the provincial and federal governments.

“I think it’s something that as a municipality, we have to remain neutral at times, and just continue to work with the people that are going to be able to provide us some financial assistance,” Ring said.

To him, Dionne’s comments about Regina, Saskatoon and Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison didn’t have a place in the State of the City Address.

“It may have been said in jest or in humour, I just thought, quite honestly, I thought it was a little bit offside.”

Coun. Charlene Miller, who was also present at the State of the City Address, felt the mayor’s comments about Atchison’s weight were inappropriate.

“But he said what he said, I guess out of frustration … We all got to understand the frustration the City feels about the two bridges for Saskatoon and zero bridges for us,” she said.

Miller fielded a few phone calls Friday morning, from people who expressed their “disbelief” that Dionne said what he said.

“No, I don’t agree with what the mayor said about Mayor Atchison.”

Overall, Miller thought Dionne’s speech was well done. She sees both the pros and cons of the mayor not attending the mayor’s caucus at next week’s SUMA convention.

She understands the mayor’s frustration: Prince Albert hasn’t gotten its second bridge, but Saskatoon got funding for the North Commuter Bridge Project and Regina got funding for its overpass project.

“I feel the frustration in that and I agree with the mayor,” she said. As to whether she thinks not attending the mayor’s caucus is the right way to get his point across, Miller said “yes and no.”

One of the things contributing to the “yes” is the feeling that Prince Albert should be treated as though it’s the third-largest city, but it isn’t, she said. However, she feels Prince Albert needs to be at the table.

Ring called Regina and Saskatoon two of the main cogs and two largest populated centres in the province, and they are going to draw more activity and economic dollars. To equal out funding, he said, would be difficult.

Where the mayor’s withdrawal from participating is concerned, Ring called SUMA the cities’ advocacy group, and said the City should be banding together with other mayors and municipalities to bring their message back to the provincial government. He said the question now is whether or not Prince Albert is using SUMA as one of its voices.

Ring does suggest having cities of similar sizes meet together in groups, such as Prince Albert, North Battleford and Moose Jaw. He said these cities have different issues than those in the small cities caucus.

And for Coun. Lee Atkinson, Dionne’s overall speech – which he said focused mostly on change – was fine. He said the City is looking at how to change things and do them better.

But he doesn’t know what the objective of Dionne’s comments about Atchison were.

“It certainly doesn’t benefit us in any way, so you kind of wonder why even make that comment,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson also pointed out that Saskatoon and Regina are larger cities with complex issues and there will be differences between Prince Albert and those two cities.

‘Take the heat’: councillors react

Dionne’s advice to his fellow members of council to “take the heat” from the public , was “a bit of a shot at council,” according to Ring.

He said he hasn’t had a chance to sit down with the mayor to find out exactly where he was going with that comment.

“I think we all take a certain amount of heat. As the mayor, obviously he is the face of council. But each individual councillor has certainly faced some heat in one form or another, whether it’s an individual issue that’s come up within their wards.

“I know for myself personally, I’ve taken a pretty strong stance when it’s come to some group home developments and that sort of thing. And yeah, I think I’ve taken the heat, so I’m not too sure what that comment was truly 100 per cent being referred to.”

During his address, Dionne said the public looks at the mayor when it disagrees with council’s decisions.

“I take the most heat in this room. Because at the end of the day, it wasn’t council that did it, it was the mayor,” Dionne said.

Miller will take the heat if she votes in favour of something the public disagrees with, but when she doesn’t, she will not take the heat, she said.

“In council, we do make decisions, and when we make decisions, we do stand behind our decisions. [The] majority of council could vote in favour of one issue and I oppose it. And I will defend anything that I oppose.” She explained this, saying that if she doesn’t vote along with the majority of council, she will not take the heat for an approval she wasn’t in favour of.

And while Atkinson acknowledged that the city’s mayor does take more of the heat than the councillors, but he is unsure whether Dionne’s tone suggested councillors should share more of that heat.

“Quite frankly, there have been times the mayor has not voted to endorse something, but perhaps there’s been criticism. But again, he bears the heat of those decisions, being the mayor.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames