Mayor Fougere reflects on 2019, end of decade

As Mayor Michael Fougere reflects on 2019, the concerts and the outdoor hockey games Regina hosted at Mosaic Stadium top his list of highlights.

“It was incredible having the outdoor NHL game and the Pats playing as well — that was really great,” he said.

However, Fougere noted the back-to-back Garth Brooks shows were his personal favourite.

“They were both sold out and I think they exceeded expectations a lot,” he said. “The entertainment that we had and the focus on our city that we had nation-wide was just fantastic.”

Meanwhile, a high point at city hall for Fougere was the approval of funding for the Globe Theatre to undergo some renovations.

“We had tried to work with both levels of government for a number of years to see what we could do and we got that through, so that was a major and significant milestone for us,” he explained.

Construction, Capital Pointe top the list of 2019 lowlights

On the other hand, Fougere said the year wasn’t without its fair share of speed bumps; he listed the road construction woes around the city over the spring and summer as “one of the disappointments” of 2019.

“I make no apologies for wanting to get the work done because it does have to get done, but it’s how we rolled it out that was really difficult. I do apologize to residents that we did seem to have every major street in the city under construction all at once and frustrations were there — I certainly felt that and saw that myself,” he said.

“Now that it’s all complete, it’s good, but getting there was a bit painful so that was a bit of a disappointment.”

Next year, Fougere said he hopes to do things differently. He’d like to make sure that not all major construction projects are staged at once and, where appropriate, have crews work 24 hours per day and on evenings and weekends to get things done.

Fougere’s other lowlight of 2019: dealing with the Capital Pointe project.

“Although we did solve the problem, it was ongoing throughout last year. We had to follow the legislation to allow the owner to fill the hole in or we would do it ourselves, which we ended up doing, so that was a bit of a disappointment,” he said, adding he looks forward to a fresh start.

“We’re now in a good place. We have the hole filled in, we’ll have it hopefully for sale very quickly and we’ll move on from there.”

Legal weed revenue from province still a priority

With more than a year of marijuana legalization under the city’s belt, Fougere said he’s pleased with how the store fronts were rolled out.

“I think we did a really good job at selecting the right areas of where they’re going to be and the licensing on them is fine,” he said, noting the impact was significantly less than what was anticipated.

“I thought there was going to be much more of a monumental shift somehow but really … I think the community has adjusted very well to that.”

Looking ahead, Fougere noted he’d still like to see some of the pot revenue from the province filtering down to the municipalities.

“It’s a disappointment,” he said. “We had asked for that — I’m not sure if we’re going to get that — but we’d still certainly want that.”

Federal election results pose new challenge

With October’s federal election dethroning long-time Regina member of parliament Ralph Goodale, Fougere said he foresees some new challenges in getting the Queen City’s perspective across to Ottawa.

“Ralph Goodale was a very good MP — both in government and opposition — and he represented our province very well. But the people of Regina and Saskatchewan have spoken and they want to go in a different direction, so we have to build those bridges back with the federal government. We need to press upon the need to have open communication and for them to listen to what we have to say,” Fougere explained, noting it’s something he spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about after the election.

“We have work to do collectively to rise above this western alienation and try to build some bridges to make sure we build our country.”

In the new year, Fougere said he plans to work closely with Manitoba MP Jim Carr and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, who have both been designated to work with the Prairie provinces that have no Liberal seats.

Looking back on the decade

Reflecting on the past decade, Fougere said he’s proud to have served as mayor of Regina for two terms, starting in 2012.

“It’s a fantastic job — the best job in the city. It’s a wonderful city and the best city in Canada, so I’m very, very honoured to be representing and working for the people of Regina,” he said. “I’ve had a good team every time I’ve been mayor — a good team around me in members of council to drive our city forward and have differences of opinion that make for better ideas, better decisions. I’m very proud of that as well.”

Fougere’s other city highlights of the last 10 years include: building Mosaic Stadium and the waste water treatment plant, along with putting one per cent of property taxes towards residential streets and a new 0.5 per cent towards recreation.