Budgets, business and wildfire: Dionne talks 2017

As 2017 draws to a close, paNOW’s Tyler Marr sat down with Mayor Greg Dionne to reflect on some of the most impactful moments from inside City Hall.

Budgetary matters fill council’s calendar

Budget battles began in March when the city was sent into “crisis mode” after the province unexpectedly closed the taps on grants-in-lieu revenues to municipalities overnight. This left Prince Albert short over $2 million months after the budget had already been approved and shorted municipal coffers a further $3.5 million for 2018.

At the end of it all, Dionne said he was “pleased” to “end the year at 1.5”, down from the initial 2 per cent ask.

“I think that is our biggest accomplishment in 2017,” he said. “You listen to the news…Swift Current at 13 per cent, Saskatoon almost six per cent. I am pleased to know we are eighth [in the province] and after this year, we will be tenth.”

The budgetary woes, however, will not see an end in 2018, as lowering commercial taxes and tackling utility bills will be top of mind for the mayor.

Economic development a heightened priority in 2018

As the province deals with an economic slowdown, mining layoffs, the shuttering of major retail outlets and slowing commercial builds, the city will have to come up with unique ways to stimulate business in 2018, according to Dionne.

“It is important we prepare ourselves [for this],” he said. “It is important to us that we do something incentive-wise…and keep taxes low.”

A hint on what these incentives could look like arose this fall when a $700,000 package for a $15 million luxury Primer Best Western Hotel was on the table. While it sparked national interest and drew applause from local businesses, it also brought a war of words and stiff opposition from one councillor.

“We are going to look for incentives in ’18 and ’19 to get our people back to work,” he said. “That is why we have to come up with new incentive programs.”

In doing so, however, the city needs to keep private companies in mind, as moves such as selling discounted lots hurt local developers, the mayor said. Learning from this, the city will not continue the discount lot program in 2018 and has plans to announce new incentive packages in January. The first, Dionne said, will surround a new home building incentive. The other will look to encourage residents to renovate their homes within reason before they see a property tax spike.

“You improve your house and our taxman comes along and ups your taxes. We don’t want that,” he said. “It is more important for us to get our people back to work.”

Northern wildfires force thousands to Prince Albert

This summer, Prince Albert became a temporary home to upwards of 1,300 evacuees when wildfires ravaged parts of Pelican Narrows and the surrounding area. Accusations swirled at the time the city was under strain and underprepared for the numbers.

Dionne said the city has “to do a better job…once they get here.”

“Every year we have evacuees and we seem to start all over again,” he said. “We know when they are coming that they want passes for this and access to this so we will do our part….Our process is support, making our pools available and making our recreation facilities available.”

He said more checklists and automatic preparation procedures will be put in place to accommodate future evacuees.

“But we also know we can not step in other peoples parts,” he added. “Evacuees are the responsibility of the Red Cross. We don’t do anything unless we get a request from the Red Cross.”

New faces around the table

October 2017 marked one year since the civic election saw a number of new faces elected to city council.

When asked how it was working with a variety of new voices and ideas for the past 12 months, Dionne said: “it has been a challenge.”

“We have lots of individuals on council, which is good, you just don’t want rubber stamps. But at the same time, you still want to act as a team,” he said. “When you have councillors that [hold up large items for one line] that is sad.”

“Are we perfect? Absolutely not… Are we going to stumble? Absolutely. Are we going to have hiccups? Absolutely. But are going to move forward? Yes.” – Mayor Greg Dionne

While elected councillors represent a Ward, Dionne said, “you have to do what is best for the city.”

“In lots of cases this year, there were lots of personal agendas. But at the end of the day, we got past those and we moved forward,” he explained. “The key is the majority sees the vision, the majority sees that we have to put people back to work.”

Crime a sustained issue

Crime in the city was one topic the mayor was “not proud of” but one he believes is often overblown and misrepresented.

Dionne took issue with a recent report showing Prince Albert to be the third most dangerous city in the country.

“[A majority of the arrests] are not dangerous. They are for intoxications. They were not assaults, murders, home invasions, random shootings,” he said. “Once you get rid of those, we look good,” and pointed out how over a third of arrests made are people not living in Prince Albert.

“We do have a challenge, but we know it and we are prepared to tackle it and at the end of the day we are working on it.”

A highlight of this work pertains to one downtown property that has entered the cross-hairs of the city: 922 Central Ave.

The building has caused repeated headaches for many of its neighbours.

In October, Dionne vowed to take action with an “end goal of demolishing” the building. He continued to tout this commitment Friday, saying “we are going to deal with it.”

“We have done it in the past with the Minto Apartments, and that cleaned up that area,” he said. “Even though it took us years to get it down…as soon as you lock the doors, residents said the neighbourhood improved.”

While some business owners and residents have expressed a desire for action on the “problem” building, others say demolition is not the solution.

Brad Wall says goodbye

A big shakeup in Regina this year occurred when Premier Brad Wall, after a decade in office, announced his retirement somewhat unexpectedly in August. The move triggered a rather tame race to replace him as the leader of the party and province, set to wrap up at the end of January.

Five names are in the running to replace Wall, two of which Dionne has publically backed: neighbouring Rosthern – Shellbrook MLA Scott Moe and Saskatoon – Northwest MLA Gordon Wyant.

Dionne said he is throwing his weight behind these two as both “of them have gotten up and said the new regional hospital will be 100 per cent funded by the province.”

“I believe it is a northern regional hospital and it should be funded by the province and we are going to continue that fight in 2018,” he said when asked what he wants to see from Regina when a new leader takes over.

Fighting for a hospital, however, has put the need for a new bridge on the back-burner. Dionne is adamant “we need a new hospital before a bridge.”

“We haven’t forgotten about [the bridge], it hasn’t gone away….While I am focused on a new hospital, at the same time we are not forgetting about the bridge,” he said.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr

by Tyler Marr

Budgets, business and wildfire: Dionne talks 2017

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