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It was a historic election day in Bridge City, one that didn’t end until after midnight. So here are five things you may have missed or shouldn’t forget about the 2024 Saskatoon civic election…

1: GIRL POWER

It was a night for the history books: Cynthia Block became Saskatoon’s first female mayor.

Block is the 34th mayor in Saskatoon’s history. The new council will also include four other women: Kathryn McDonald (Ward 1), Jasmin Parker (Ward 6), Holly Kelleher (Ward 7) and Bev Dubois (Ward 9).

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This is the second time in three elections in Saskatoon that women have made history. Voters first elected a 6-5 majority to women on the city council in 2016.

Before Block, several women had finished second in the mayoral vote. Sandra Mitchell, in 1994, was the closest to becoming Saskatoon’s first female mayor until this year. she finished just 1,295 votes behind Henry Dayday.

2: SO, ABOUT THIS VOTE DISTRIBUTION (PART 2)

From the 2020 StarPhoenix post-mortem: “Observers, voters and – yes – candidates wondered: Would right-wing mayoral challengers Don Atchison and Rob Norris cancel each other out and allow Charlie Clark’s left heading to another victory? It’s not necessarily as simple as A + B = C, but the final vote totals suggest some validity to the theory. Clark’s total of 27,377 votes was nearly equal to the combined total of 26,983 received by Norris (15,261) and Atchison (11,722).

This election appears to be a similar story – on the surface. After ballots from all 82 polling stations were counted, center-left candidate Block finished with 30,412 votes, while the combined total of center-right candidates Gord Wyant (20,259) and Atchison (10,460) was 30,719.

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3: THE RACE TO WATCH

It would be understandable if Kevin Boychuk played the role of “What if?” game in the hours, days and weeks following the last election. As in: “What if I just received a few measly extra votes?”

In 2020, Boychuk lost the city council race in Ward 1 to incumbent Darren Hill by just 56 votes.

On Wednesday, Boychuk picked up a few more votes than his closest opponent as he sought to win the council seat. However, rather than rejoicing, this led to an even more agonizing defeat.

In the closest race of the evening, Kathryn MacDonald defeated Boychuk by 52 votes (1,808 to 1,756) to win the seat.

4: ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION

Based on 50 years of data, voter turnout in Saskatoon was essentially equivalent.

According to Elections Saskatoon, 68,701 voters cast ballots this year, representing a turnout of 35.04 per cent of eligible voters.

The average participation rate in municipal elections since 1973: 36.3 percent.

Voter turnout over the last half century:

2020: 27.41 percent

2016: 40.1 percent

2012: 36.9 percent

2009: 27.3 percent

2006: 37.1 percent

2003: 52.3 percent

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2000: 26.4 percent

1997: 21 percent

1994: 45 percent

1991: 38 percent

1988: 52 percent

1985: 51 percent

1982: 31 percent

1979: 35.7 percent

1976: 39 percent

1973: 20 percent.

With six new municipal councilors and a new mayor, there are many changes. In 2020, only one new member was elected – the lowest turnover rate since 2009, when all incumbent councilors and the mayor ran and were re-elected.

5: TIMON MAKES HISTORY

In 2020, the election of David Kirton to represent vacant Ward 3 alongside repeat winner Zach Jeffries in Ward 10 marked the first time in Saskatoon’s history that two Indigenous people were elected to council. This year, the first member of a visible minority was elected to the municipal council.

Ward 2 winner Senos Timon immigrated to Saskatchewan as a refugee from war-torn South Sudan more than 20 years ago. After his victory, Timon said he felt Saskatoon had become a more diverse city over time. Seeing that reflected in local government will be positive for the community, he said.

“I’m very honored and grateful for this opportunity, because (the) people of Saskatoon really didn’t see (race) as a barrier.”

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— With Saskatoon StarPhoenix files from Phil Tank, Brody Langager and Michael Joel-Hansen

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