'Lots to learn': Regina's new mayor embracing role with budget debate right around the corner

Regina’s recently elected Mayor Chad Bachynski has been embracing the learning curve that comes with the role and is looking ahead to the new year, which will include finalizing the city’s budget.

CTV News’ Cole Davenport sat down with the new head of city council for a year-in-review discussion.

The full interview can be viewed using the video player at the top of this article.

Bachynski, 39, says since being sworn in on Nov. 18, along with eight first-time city councillors, a lot of his time has been dedicated to speaking with residents and training.

"Things are going well, there’s lots to learn and people to meet but so far so good," he said. "I love to learn new things and I have pivoted several times in my career specifically to challenge myself."

"This is a massive challenge, and I am up for it."

Bachynski defeated Sandra Masters on Nov. 13 by a margin of 3,400 votes, according to the City of Regina.

He says his initial thoughts after winning on election night was a tremendous amount of appreciation for his campaign team and those that supported him with their vote.

"This wasn’t just me," the 25-year Regina resident said. "It was a lot of people that helped make that happen and it was pretty special. Just to see everyone so happy and celebrating was amazing."

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For Bachynski, his motivation to run for the city’s top job came through what direction he was seeing the city go in, both with his own eyes and through those close to him.

"The things that I personally saw happening in the city and hearing from others, friends and family, it pushed me to put my name forward," Bachynski, who on his candidate page noted he has more than a decade of experience managing large scale projects, said.

The mechanical engineer by trade says he wasn’t going around Regina and directly asking people if they had an appetite for change, instead he noticed the trend while out on the campaign trail.

"The messages really resonated with them, what I was saying, and that’s when I realized that there is an appetite for change," he said.

In his campaign platform, Bachynski said he "is invested in Regina’s potential as a safe and affordable place for everyone."

He also noted that the city is facing significant challenges – citing rising taxes and prolonged construction projects with increasing debt and no real plan to reduce it.

Bachynski and the rest of city council will get the opportunity to begin implementing its vision for the city in the new year when the group deliberates and finalizes a city budget for 2025.

Bachynski hopes that will be attained by having a strong relationship with the councillors.

"It’s one of my primary focuses is to make sure we [all] have a good relationship going forward," he said.

For Bachynski, he strongly believes himself and councillors need to have open dialogue and communication and are comfortable sharing information with one another.

"These are all fundamental, foundational leadership expectations of myself and so far I’ve seen that demonstrated across the board and I’m very excited," he explained.

He also knows his time in office won’t come without challenges – but says he is staying in the moment and feels the first major issue will be agreeing to a budget.

"Coming into the new year budget is going to be a huge focus, so I would say we’ve got a little bit more orientation to go through in the new year and the budget will be the next real big item that we want to look at," he said.

"So that’s going to be the focus, we want to get our handle on the budget. There [are] many line items that we have to look at to understand and make sure we’re making effective decisions for the programs and services the city offers."