Latest news with #Bachynski
Global News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
How close is Regina to 24-hour construction?
Prior to being elected as Regina's mayor, Chad Bachynski had campaigned on implementing 24-hour construction in the Queen City, posting a video on Facebook in October of 2024 stating more needs to happen. However, months later, with construction season underway, those goals are easier said than done. After learning of the limitations when it comes to overnight and 24-hour work, including noise bylaws, limited contractor availability and budget capacities, expectations have shifted. 'You know, you get in and you learn a lot and that's been a theme of getting into office,' explained Mayor Bachynski. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Things do change and it's not exactly what I thought when I was campaigning, but we're definitely still having those discussions and absolutely we'll pivot where we need to.' Story continues below advertisement In specific projects that are up against a time crunch, the city does have the option to extend hours and utilize overnight work to minimize impacts on residents and increase efficiency, but it must be deemed both feasible and advantageous. For example, the Water Network Expansion Project has crews working around the clock to complete critical tie-ins to existing watermains, and overnight work has taken place on the Albert Street North overpass to limit traffic disruptions along ring road. 'There's always the ability to accelerate work but we have to balance schedule, costs and time,' said deputy city manager Kurtis Doney. 'So, we work with a contractor, particularly on 11th avenue with lots of conversations about what we can do to accelerate the schedule and we're working to implement that now.' Mayor Bachynski says he will continue to work with administration going forward to achieve construction completion in the most effective and efficient way possible. More on this story can be viewed in the video above.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Regina to provide $6.8M incentive for 2nd Costco location
Regina city council voted on Wednesday to provide Costco with a $6.78-million incentive to build a second local location in the city's Westerra area. The funds will be taken from Regina Land Development Reserve. The city estimates the money will be paid back through property taxes within seven years. The decision followed a contentious discussion at city council, with several councillors expressing displeasure at having to provide a monetary incentive to the private business. Mayor Bachynski said city council learned on Wednesday that after Costco had reached a deal in principle to build the second location within the city, it cancelled the deal in favour of building at the Global Transportation Hub west of Regina. The reason for that change, according to Coun. David Froh, was that the transportation hub — which is managed by a Crown corporation — provided much cheaper land subsidized by taxpayers. This in effect forced Regina to compete with an entity funded by the provincial government. "If Costco is built outside of Regina, we will lose hundreds of millions of investment, and millions more in ancillary residential and commercial development," Froh said. "The lesson here is we need to avoid multiple levels of government competing for local investment." "How we got there was a little bit unfortunate," Mayor Bachynski said in an interview with the CBC's Morning Edition Thursday. "The end result is a positive one for the city of Regina and especially the west side of Regina. "It will provide growth for that area. It'll provide other commercial entities to develop around that anchor tenant and ultimately provide somewhere in the realm of half a million a year in tax revenue from Costco." The mayor was also clear that the funding shouldn't be viewed as a precedent for more corporate incentives being offered by the city. "This is a very, very unique situation," he said. "It was not an apples-to-apples comparison in terms of land cost. "Developers are consistently competing with each other on an even playing field with the land within the city and we do not get involved in."
CBC
29-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Regina mayor joins counterparts from across North America in D.C. to call for end of trade war
Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski joined a conference of mayors from across North America on Friday to call for an end to the growing trade war between the United States and its neighbours. Bachynski was one of seven Canadian mayors invited to the two-day conference in Washington, D.C., jointly hosted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. More than two dozen local officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States attended. "We urge national leaders to put our communities first, end the trade war, and keep our countries strong with free and fair trade," the coalition said after the conference concluded on Friday. "Our families, businesses and workers depend on it." Bachynski said he communicated the province's tariff challenges during the meeting. "Some of my points were highlighting our industries — food, fuel, fertilizer, steel — really leaning into those industries that we know we're a global powerhouse in," he said. "The idea that by imposing tariffs, the U.S. will magically have an industry up here to take over the creation of resources, the creation of jobs, is unrealistic." On March 26, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new 25 per cent tariff on foreign-made auto parts, throwing the Canadian auto industry into disarray. It is scheduled to begin on April 2. The move came after several months of on-again off-again tariffs. On March 12, the U.S. launched a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, which followed the March 4 resumption of a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods that were briefly implemented in February. Roughly 40 per cent of Canadian goods were then exempted from the tariffs on March 6, when Trump amended the policy to exclude all goods covered by the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. That exemption is set to expire with the launch of the auto tariffs on April 2. Bachynski said the uncertainty of the tariff environment was another topic of discussion at the conference. "Whether or not we know what kind of tariffs are in place or not in place on any given day, the uncertainty still drives a lot of impact," he said. "Investment goes on pause, hiring may freeze due to uncertainty." Bacynski said some American are wary of pushing back against Trump's policies. "There is a genuine reservation about what speaking out could mean in terms of impacts to funding that they might receive," he said. Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who also attended the meeting, said that the Trump administration will hear the message sent by the conference. "I'll leave it to the prime minister and the new federal government after the election, the premiers of our provinces, to handle the high level negotiations," he said. Currently the Canadian government has tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods, and a reciprocal 25 per cent tariff on an additional $29.8 billion worth of goods in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would launch fresh retaliatory tariffs if new American tariffs go into effect on April 2.
CBC
14-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Mayor Chad Bachynski uses 1st state of the city address to pitch Regina to people in larger cities
Social Sharing Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski used his first state of the city speech to pitch Regina as the perfect place for people disillusioned with life in bigger cities. "Residents here enjoy more free time compared to those in cities like Toronto, Vancouver or Halifax, spending less time commuting and more time doing what they love," he told a room full of people at the Conexus Arts Centre on Thursday. "That's why we're encouraging residents in those larger cities to break up with their cities and move to Regina." Bachynski said the city is launching a new advertising campaign to help push that message. The City of Regina and Economic Development Regina have already created a new website — — to draw potential residents to Saskatchewan's capital city. "We all know how great Regina is and the opportunities that are here, and now we have a great opportunity to showcase that to other cities and attract people to come see it for themselves," Bachynski said. It was a hot election issue. Now Regina city councillors are examining REAL's future 8 hours ago Duration 3:41 Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski was on the Morning Edition on Feb. 13, 2025, to discuss the previous night's city council meeting, touching on proposed tax increases and how Regina will assess the future of Regina Exhibition Association Limited. Economic Development Regina is also launching The Regina 25, a program meant to highlight 25 people who "dare to grow, inspire, and lay the foundation for our city's future" "One of the greatest things about Regina is always its people," said Chris Lane, CEO of Economic Development Regina. Nominations are already open and winners will be recognized in April. Challenges ahead: Bachynski Thursday marked three months since Bachynski was elected in an election that also brought eight other new members to city council. Many of those new councillors were in attendance Thursday as Bachynski highlighted the problems he heard while on the campaign trail and what he hoped to do about them. That includes getting "creative" to address inflation while grappling with a proposed mill rate increase of 8.5 per cent and utility rate increase of 5.8 per cent in this year's budget. For the average homeowner, that works out to an increase of $27 a month or $320 a year. "There will no doubt be tough decisions to make and difficult conversations to have as we juggle a number of priorities and ensure that taxpayers feel they are getting value for their dollars," Bachynski said. The new mayor confirmed he is working with city administration to explore expediting construction projects and expanding the hours when construction is allowed to happen at night — a commitment he made while campaigning for mayor. "There are budget and safety implications to consider, but we are moving forward on this," he said.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mayor Chad Bachynski uses 1st state of the city address to pitch Regina to people in larger cities
Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski used his first state of the city speech to pitch Regina as the perfect place for people disillusioned with life in bigger cities. "Residents here enjoy more free time compared to those in cities like Toronto, Vancouver or Halifax, spending less time commuting and more time doing what they love," he told a room full of people at the Conexus Arts Centre on Thursday. "That's why we're encouraging residents in those larger cities to break up with their cities and move to Regina." Bachynski said the city is launching a new advertising campaign to help push that message. The City of Regina and Economic Development Regina have already created a new website — — to draw potential residents to Saskatchewan's capital city. "We all know how great Regina is and the opportunities that are here, and now we have a great opportunity to showcase that to other cities and attract people to come see it for themselves," Bachynski said. WATCH|It was a hot election issue. Now Regina city councillors are examining REAL's future: Economic Development Regina is also launching The Regina 25, a program meant to highlight 25 people who "dare to grow, inspire, and lay the foundation for our city's future" "One of the greatest things about Regina is always its people," said Chris Lane, CEO of Economic Development Regina. Nominations are already open and winners will be recognized in April. Challenges ahead: Bachynski Thursday marked three months since Bachynski was elected in an election that also brought eight other new members to city council. Many of those new councillors were in attendance Thursday as Bachynski highlighted the problems he heard while on the campaign trail and what he hoped to do about them. Mayor Chad Bachynski says now is the time to showcase Regina's strengths and attract people to come see the city for themselves. (Kirk Fraser/CBC) That includes getting "creative" to address inflation while grappling with a proposed mill rate increase of 8.5 per cent and utility rate increase of 5.8 per cent in this year's budget. For the average homeowner, that works out to an increase of $27 a month or $320 a year. "There will no doubt be tough decisions to make and difficult conversations to have as we juggle a number of priorities and ensure that taxpayers feel they are getting value for their dollars," Bachynski said. The new mayor confirmed he is working with city administration to explore expediting construction projects and expanding the hours when construction is allowed to happen at night — a commitment he made while campaigning for mayor. "There are budget and safety implications to consider, but we are moving forward on this," he said. Other topics Bachynski touched on included the need for more to be done to address homelessness and a lack of affordable housing, and the start of construction on the city's new indoor aquatic facility.
