City Council Candidates - Regina 2024

I have a commitment to equity, fairness, and justice and in my visits to condo residents, in going door to door, I was shocked to find out how they are treated and categorized by City policies, bylaws, and practices.

If is likely useful to tell you about an experience I had in my Lease, 8 km north of La Ronge with a short private road.

Before Grant Devine was elected (just a fact, not intended as a political statement) some things changed that affected all of us along the highway to the next major centre.

At that time before Snow removal on properties like mine was “PRIVATIZED”, the snow plough would reliably come down the highway and make a small divergence onto our roads and clear them before moving on, so everyone was always looked after, safe, and accessible after a snowfall.  We were charged only for the trip off the highway and back again as the snowplough was already on that main highway.

After Grant Devine was elected and proceeded to privatize road clearing, we were all just individuals expected to make our own arrangements.  I had the experience of having one of these small contractors fire up his World War 1 snow plow, heat it up, and then drive it all the way from La Ronge, just to do my one road, and that is when the plow actually starts and the old plow could make it down the road, turn around, and get back out.  He did get stuck in the turnaround.

This was clearly RIDICULOUS.  It was inefficient (our tax purchased public government equipment was up to date and up to the job but no longer accessible to the taxpayers).  Why would someone take this less efficient road and certainly less fair to all of us who had, no doubt, contributed to buying up to date equipment.

It was one of the most stupid, impractical, expensive and unreliable things I have ever witnessed.  Kind of like saying my van could be use as an ambulance by the hospital.

I think this will give you a sense of how I feel about these kind of ‘privatized’ approaches that download costs onto people in many areas of decisions.

So, Why vote for me ?  I have been there and know the consequences and am dedicated to getting some fairness for Condo folks and many other areas of concern.

Why should I represent Ward 1 - As an Elected member of the Legislature for 3 consecutive terms, I have a distinguished track record of major accomplishments and a reputations for “Getting Things Done”.  I have considerable experience working with government policy and practices, responding to community concerns and requests, and experience working with intergovernmental responsibilities and funding.  

As soon as I understood the Condo issues I determined to challenge these approaches when elected.  To dump these kind of responsibilities on citizens who have earned their ability to live in a condo and as you state are in the 40 to 70 year old age range, likely some used to having their “now deceased” husband as the one who handled this stuff and many who do not navigate the internet and as you would know finding reliable contractors is not that easy.

Garbage Collection and Recycling
Clearly there are a few things wrong.  It is inefficient to have more than one way this is done is a city.

It got me wondering about this current rush, under the Housing Accelerator program to wipe out existing zoning and bylaws for some really unjustified purposes.  That’s another one I intend to tackle.  

It seems the problem starts back with “Why developers have the right to develop properties without proper compliance with City procedures for picking up garbage and recycling.  I find that unbelievable and unfair.  The city owns proper equipment, we shouldn’t have to be compelled to look for another source to get the standard public services.
Someone is asleep at the switch down there or is in a business that benefits from this bizarre arrangement.

Obviously there should be no gap in services or fairness between the single family homeowners and multi residential home owner.  This would require a review and a plan to close the gap to achieve equity.  Most of the condo owners were likely family homeowners in their immediate past and paid the taxes that bought all of this equipment and set up recycling programs.  

Property taxes/assessments - user pay

I’m not sure what the final solution will be but it should be built on equity and assessment of actual costs to deliver.

It seems that recent popular practices include;

Privatising services so that employees don’t appear on public accounts. This is a shameful practice and contractors have been given guarantees of profitability over long time spans for taking over services which in some cases are not even delivered by properly trained employees with public accountability.  This is not budgeting and transparency, it is “hiding Stuff’.

The goal should be Equity, no downloading, and no paying again for something that has already been paid for.  There are a lot of complaints in this area for things like water utilities.

Some places, including apartment blocks have done their own innovative adjustments to deal with these problems such as large shared bins in an accessible place.  And it is likely that some good research would reveal other solutions in other jurisdictions and some comparison of costs.

Your association has likely got some of this work on file.

Thank you for my opportunity to get involved in this discussion.  I totally understand the problems and we need to find the solution that start right from the moment of design and contraction of new development.

Rasovich, Dan

1. I don’t like how the green bins have been rolled out
I would revisit the bylaw so it’s fair for condo owners and homeowners.
This is unfair especially when there is no 3rd party service. 

2. There should be fair and equal treatment for all city services regardless if you are in a house or condo. I would open up this discussion.

3. Not happy how condos are being treated, this is unfair.
I would be committed to have fair services and try to eliminate the gaps and have tax fairness. I would be open to discussion on how this can be addressed.

Hawkins, Bob

Food Waste Bylaw, User Pay and Unequal Cost of Services:

When the Food Waste Bylaw introduced a system of user pay waste disposal, it became clear that prior consultation with condominiums had been inadequate, particularly in situations where city waste equipment could not service some condominiums. As a result, many condominiums had to hire private waste companies at considerable increased expense owing, in part, to the lack of options for hire in the private sector. CCI appeared before council to object to this state of affairs and to indicate that condominiums were being treated unfairly when compared to single-family residential owners.

Following the CCI appearance at council, I moved a successful motion that required city administration to meet with CCI and interested stakeholders. The purpose of these meetings, now taking place, was to give condominium owners an opportunity to express their concerns and to suggest alternate options that would better serve the interests of both condominium owners and the city.

The results of these consultations will come back to council with recommendations to eliminate the gap between what single and multi-home residential users pay for garbage removal. Specifically, there are options that CCI will bring forward that will remove the unequal costs that condominium owners now pay. I hope to be re-elected as the councillor for Ward 2 so that I will have the opportunity to support recommendations that will achieve this objective.

Liebrecht, Cory

Garbage Collection and Recycling: Where do you stand on the Food Waste bylaw as it applies to Condominiums?
Property Taxes/Assessments: Where do you stand on the user pay for all city services for all residential homeowners regardless of type of home owned?
Condominium Services: What would you do to reduce or eliminate the gap between single family homeowners and Multi residential homeowners in services provided by the city and the unequal costs and if so what would those steps include?
1). As I understand the current bylaw. I see it as being written in such a way that leaves condominium residences unfairly treated when it comes to collections of food waste. I'm certainly interested in working with the community on this issue so I can bring a more suitable and sustainable solution to the city council for a review. 

2). City services should be available to all residents equally. Choosing who receives certain city services would be like calling 911 for a fire and being told the fire department can't respond because their trucks won't fit.

3). I'd like to close the gap by first discussing with the CCI where exactly these gaps exist. What solution do they see that is working in other cities with a similar population of condo residents? City council and administration just can't keep pointing out what doesn't work as a city in regards to this unfair practice. It is important to find a solution that is fair and equitable to everyone.  

Wilder, Tanis

1. Garbage, recycling and food waste should be covered by the City. I would post-pone food waste removal for condos until a permanent composting facility is in place. 
2. I agree with user-pay for city services. It should be at an equal rate for an equal value. 
3. I am not opposed to rebates an an option. It must include facility costs as part of the equation as well as recognizing residential condos as residential rather than non-designate or commercial. All of this would be done in consultation and collaboration with CCI.