Saskatoon business leaders got a preview of what could be coming in the 2020 municipal election campaign on Tuesday, when Mayor Charlie Clark and potential candidate Rob Norris faced off at the annual State of the City address.

After Clark delivered his third State of the City to the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, where he emphasized the strength of community and building for future generations, the crowd was given the opportunity to ask questions of the mayor.

That’s when Rob Norris rose and was handed a microphone. Norris confirmed on Friday he was exploring the possibility of challenging Clark for mayor in 2020.

He pushed the sitting mayor on his touting of a regional development plan in Saskatoon, citing potential delays in the building of a sustainable community on the border of city limits with Corman Park.

Arbutus Properties wants to go ahead with the project, named Solair, within five years while city administration has said it doesn’t fit with their development plan for at least 15 years.

“Perhaps your regional plan for growth is becoming a bureaucratic fortress that’s actually preventing growth, sending a message across the province and across the country that maybe Saskatoon isn’t ready to play a lead role in environmentally friendly, inclusive communities,” Norris said to Clark.

The former Sask. Party cabinet member then suggested, “maybe I’ve got that wrong,” to which Clark immediately replied, “you do.”

The mayor explained that the Solair project hasn’t been proposed to the R.M. of Corman Park, where some of the neighbourhood would be situated. He said it was uncommon for developers to come to city council about projects outside their jurisdiction.

And with the city attempting to develop a regional partnership with the R.M., he said they can’t start making decisions over their heads.

“If we create a pattern where the way we determine developments is to have developers from outside the region go around Corman Park … we’re not having regional cooperation,” Clark said.

“I know what’s at stake if we don’t make the right decision-making process on one of these developments: we risk the ability to have trust on all of them. That’s a problem.”

Asked after about the propriety of a potential political opponent asking a question at the State of the City luncheon, Clark said he wouldn’t want to limit who can ask him about issues in the city.

However, he had a different response when asked what he thought of Norris’ suggestions regarding Solair.

“I don’t think he had done his research,” Clark said.

The mayor insisted to reporters he’s not focused on a re-election campaign this far ahead of the municipal election, which is scheduled for Nov. 9, 2020.

“I have a four-year mandate to be the mayor, so right now I’m focused on that work and fulfilling that mandate,” he said.

“There’s a long way to go until the election.”

When asked if having someone like Rob Norris on potential campaign footing already could make his job more difficult, Clark responded quickly.

“I’d say it brings focus to my job.”

Mayor Charlie Clark says he's not surprised Rob Norris is considering a run for mayor. Says his question on Solair "wasn't researched very well." On someone declaring this early, Clark tells me "it brings focus to my job." #yxecc #yxe pic.twitter.com/bRs0P4zIJf — Chris Vandenbreekel (@Vandecision) April 16, 2019

STATE OF THE CITY FOCUSES ON GROWTH, DOWNTOWN PLAN

During his State of the City address, Clark touted Saskatoon’s growth – including the opening of new bridges, Merlis Belsher Place, new neighbourhoods, as well as the upcoming Nutrien Wonderhub and Nutrien office tower.

He also spoke at length about what lies ahead for city council, specifically regarding plans for the downtown core.

“We, together, have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the downtown for generations to come,” he said.

Clark noted city council is set to decide on routes for a future bus rapid transit (BRT) system later in April, with the proposed routes being released on Wednesday.

He also suggested city council would decide on a site in the core for a future entertainment district, which would include a downtown arena to replace SaskTel Centre.

The mayor emphasized the projects wouldn’t happen all at once, and funding would be a key question.

“A lot of work remains to figure out how and when to pay for them, and where we can leverage other dollars to minimize the burden on property taxes,” he said.

While Clark talked about the BRT system and the addition of kilometres of roads and sidewalks, he omitted any mention of bike lane projects from his State of the City address.

When asked whether the omission was intentional, Clark said the conversation is already happening without him mentioning them.

“I think enough other people are talking about bike lanes that I don’t need to talk about them so much,” he said.

But he noted most of the issue appears to be around the temporary bike lanes on 4th Avenue, which could potentially move to 3rd Ave. according to a city report.

“We built the bike lanes on Victoria Avenue and I haven’t heard one complaint about it,” he said.

“We have the bike lanes on all the new highways, McOrmond Drive and Central Avenue on our roadways, and there are no complaints.”

He added the debate surrounding bike lanes has to be put into context with all the changes across Saskatoon.

“We have to get ahold of this whole debate and get it to a rational place,” he said.