Here's who's running for a spot on city council in Yorkton

Yorkton, Sask. -

Yorkton’s civic election is fast approaching with advance polls opening up this week and election day happening on Nov.13.

With 10 candidates running for six seats on Yorkton City Council, five have shared why they chose to run for municipal government.

Incumbent candidate Dustin Brears said he enjoyed his first term in city hall.

“I truly enjoyed my first term listening to people, listening to businesses and just understanding what's going on in the city, and then being able to effect change. It was just truly rewarding, he said."

Gurjit Dhaliwal, candidate for city council, expressed his interest of making a positive impact on Yorkton.

“Since coming to Yorkton I instantly fell in love with the city. I want to make a positive impact in the best of my abilities that I can, and try to give back, to create a better business environment for our small business, medium businesses, and just to see people happy,” Dhaliwal expressed.

“For people who know me, I work at The Bentley and the dedication I put into the home there to bring it to where it is, is with my team. We all work together. I have a very collaborative approach; we all have to work together if you want to achieve something and be successful.”

Also seeking re-election, is candidate Randy Goulden, who feels privileged to receive Yorkton’s support.

"I've been very privileged to get the support of Yorkton residents to run on council and work with the councils of the day and I'm asking for their support one more time,” said Goulden.

“I truly believe I want to give back to my community and to continue to sit on council and make decisions for the very best of our residents.”

Putting his name in the race as well is candidate Ron Irvine.

“I’m born and raised in Yorkton. I graduated in 1995 from Yorkton Regional High School and moved away,” he said. “In 2007 I accepted a general manager position with Access Communications and moved my family back and raised my family here in Yorkton. Over a decade I’ve been with Scouts Canada here as a leader and fundraising coordinator with the Yorkton chapter. I was on the Chamber of Commerce for five years including a stint as president in 2012 and I’ve been on the Yorkton Film Festival board now for over a decade and I’m currently sitting as the co-chair,” Irvine also said.

“I felt that my connections with the community, my experience with the community, in my position, I've worked on projects all over the province with different municipalities from the south all the way up to the north. I felt my experience, my education, my connections would be helpful, and I thought maybe this is something I could help with. That’s why I’m here."

Candidate Todd Kulscar said if elected he would like to spark change.

“Being a resident of Yorkton, I've been living here over the past 15 years, I have a family here. I know we've had some things going on in the past with the City of Yorkton and I would like to get in on council and hopefully make some changes for the better, and to have a better future for everyone,” said Kulscar.

“I’ve been in the community for quite a while, I’ve had a business for five years. I’m on Yorkton Business Improvement District (YBID) as a chair, I’ve been very community oriented. My best bet is to make some changes in the community, hopefully for the better and make a better city for everyone.”

Stance on infrastructure and taxes

If elected to sit on council from 2024-2028, candidates were asked where they stand regarding infrastructure and taxes.

Brears expressed his platform that in his previous term council kept tax increases modest.

“This term on council we were able to keep tax increases to an absolute minimum. We have external factors such as the RCMP, and other things, that sort of get dictated to us, but as far as city spending, responsible spending allowed us to keep taxes at bay and to a minimum and that’s what I plan to continue,” Brears stated.

“All I’ve heard recently [about infrastructure] is our roads in Yorkton. With undertaking York Road’s reconstruction. we have many more roads on a five-year capital plan to hopefully get them replaced or repaired as well. Roads are a big thing, underground utilities, things people don’t see. My plan is to continue to manage those and fix them responsibly so that we’re not breaking the bank, but we’re also giving Yorkton good value for its tax dollars.”

Dhaliwal shared his stance on the matter and said infrastructure is of the utmost importance.

“As we know infrastructure is vital for the community. It affects everyone that lives here, sewage systems need to be upgraded so it supports the city’s needs. I’m big on recreational activities, upgrading our playgrounds, our recreational buildings, having areas for people to go and play with their kids is vital for a healthy community,” said Dhaliwal.

“Taxes are always a sticky subject. If you want a vibrant healthy community you have to have those taxes in place, it’s just how you spend those taxpayers money is important and how you stretch it so you get a better spend from those taxes.”

If elected, Goulden voiced her opinion regarding infrastructure and taxes and said Yorkton is facing an infrastructure deficit.

“As I’ve been working with both city council and president of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), I’ve been hearing that Yorkton is absolutely the same as many communities across this province. We’re facing an infrastructure deficit. We have old infrastructure, and we have limited funding to continue to improve,” Goulden stated.

“In Yorkton, if you laid all of our infrastructure out in a line it would be 756 kilometers long. That would be from Yorkton to Vegreville and that’s the type of infrastructure we’ll have to continue to maintain.”

“That’s the balance [with taxes]. We know we need the infrastructure, we know we need the quality of life with recreation facilities, but we have to balance that with the economy and the viability and what our taxpayers can sustain because we know we want to provide quality of life and that means that our taxpayers have to be able to have discretionary funding to enjoy all the amenities here in our community.”

Irvine expressed that due to inflation and cost of living, tax increases should be a last resort.

“Obviously what we are all feeling in 2024 - with inflation and the rise for price of living - raising taxes would certainly be a last resort. It’s all about finding efficiencies. In Yorkton we do know there are some infrastructure issues we have here, there’s going to be a lot of work over the next number of years, for whoever is successful on council, to advocate with the different levels on government on these infrastructure deficits,” said Irvine.

“I know that (the city) announced that there is a bit of a surplus with the city and there will be a better discussion on what to do with that money and how that will go. Surely some of that will go to fixing some of the infrastructure deficits whether it’s the sewers under Broadway, or other things in that nature.”

Kulscar shared his platform involving infrastructure and taxes and also agreed increases should try to be avoided.

“Hopefully we don’t have to do anything more with the taxes, we definitely don’t want to see those go up by any means,” Kulscar said.

“As for infrastructure, hopefully we can start working on some of these streets that need repairs. Now that York Road is finished, hopefully we can focus on some of these other roads that are deteriorating.”

Voters are required to bring a piece of identification when casting their ballots.

On Nov. 5, advance polling will take place through a drive-thru at the City Operations Centre from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Following on Thursday, Nov. 7 at the Gloria Hayden Community Centre, residents can place their votes from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The last day to vote will be on Nov. 13 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Gloria Hayden Community Centre.