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It was a busy week on the campaign trial as Saskatoon’s mayoral contenders tried to distinguish themselves and set the groundwork for their bids to lead the city. Here’s a look at the moves they made this week.

Charlie Clark

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Photo by Greg Pender / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Clark spent this week talking growth, saying the city is doing a bad job managing it. He said city planners could save the taxpayers half a billion dollars in the coming years if the city grows within its existing boundaries instead of sprawling outward.

“We have spread ourselves too thin,” Clark said his first official news conference since the race began.

Long seen as the main threat to incumbent Don Atchison, Clark said city council has made mistakes by letting development run wild on the city’s edges. He advocated a “balanced growth” approach that he says will save money and allow sidewalks and playgrounds in older neighbourhoods to get the attention they need.

Clark said the city is now playing “catch up” because of decades of poor planning that have left people too often stuck in traffic with no easy way to get to work. He said plans to spend $50 million on new overpasses because of this poor planning.