After more than a decade as a city councillor, Michael Fougere is moving into the mayor’s chair.
And while the stadium dominated much of the debate during the Regina election campaign, Fougere says the city will learn he is not a one-issue mayor.
“People voted in this election for more than one issue and while the stadium is an issue…many people at the doors talked to me about infrastructure – the state of the sidewalks and streets; they talked about affordable housing,” said Fougere, who was elected Wednesday night with 42.4 per cent support.
“The key issue for me is affordable housing over and above everything else.”
And with the other eight candidates gathering more than half the vote, Fougere offered supporters of his opponents an olive branch.
“Every one of the competitors had good ideas, there’s no question about that,” Fougere said.
“They love Regina as much as I do; they want to make a contribution, so I’ll look at what they’re saying.
Marian Donnelly came in second place with just under 32 per cent support. She accepted the defeat, but said she is leaving the race with no regrets.
“We gave them a run for their money,” she said. “I think that there are issues in the city that people want to talk about other than a stadium, and I really hope that we start looking at what some of those issues are.”
Fougere says his first order of business will be to meet with his new council and sort out how the veteran members and rookies will best work together.
“I want to see our council work together to understand other people’s ideas; their concerns, compromise and move forward in a sense of unity,” he said.
Fougere succeeds Pat Fiacco, who served as the city’s mayor for the past 12 years.
Based on a report by Dale Hunter, CTV Regina
