When it comes to civic politics, Bruce Fidler is no novice.
Now serving his fifth consecutive term as mayor of Creighton, Fidler has led the community for nearly 14 years.
With new challenges on the horizon and the region’s economic outlook as complex as ever, The Reminder spoke with Fidler about issues facing Creighton and area.
Reminder: Hudbay has announced that between 500 and 900 positions will be eliminated by late 2020. What are your thoughts on the situation at our primary employer? Are you in contact with the company?
Fidler: Of course we have serious concerns over this. We are thinking about the future of our region. That is a large number of job losses to deal with.
We have had a number of discussions with Hudbay and hope that they can come up with a solution to minimize the number. In the meantime, we are working on diversifying the economy of our area, in order to try and create other employment opportunities.
Reminder: With Hudbay set to reduce its workforce, some area residents would like to see Creighton and Flin Flon work more closely together for the benefit of all taxpayers. What specific partnership opportunities, if any, would you like to pursue?
Fidler: I agree that all three communities have to work together more, and especially in the future.
We have already started with the regional economic development officer, Winter Festival and many other programs.
Although the border issue sometimes hinders us, we have to find ways to overcome these and continue to work together for the future of our region.
Reminder: No new homes have been constructed in the Collins Crescent subdivision, which opened in 2014. Some believe that the $60,000 price per lot is excessive. Has there been interest in these lots? Has council considered lowering the asking price?
Fidler: We have had a fair amount of interest and inquiries of these lots.
I believe the lack of sales and development is due to the downturn in the economy right now.
We have not looked at lowering the price yet; the cost of lot development is quite high and we are just looking to recover our costs.
Reminder: Last year, Creighton partnered with Flin Flon and Denare Beach to create the new regional economic development officer position. What effect has this new position had for Creighton? What kind of progress has been made for the community? Has any additional business come to Creighton?
Fidler: First of all, this economic development officer is working on behalf of all three communities, not just Creighton. To this point, there haven’t been any new businesses start up.
We all realize that nothing happens overnight; it takes time. There has been a lot of interest and discussions with different business industries.
Reminder: What impact will the merger of Saskatchewan’s regional health authorities into a single province-wide entity have on Creighton? How might the town respond?
Fidler: Although Health Services Programs are not our area of expertise, we certainly have concerns about whether or not we will have any local representation on this board.
We definitely have voiced our opinions and concerns to the (health) minister. We want to make sure that we have adequate health services in the future.
Reminder: Are there any major infrastructure improvements coming for the community?
Fidler: We have a large water and sewer line replacement happening this year. We will be installing new lines right from the intake on King Crescent down Creighton Avenue to Main Street. This project is joint funded through the BCF, the Province and the Town.
Also, we are replacing storm sewer along First Street West, down Elander to Main Street. We are planning on some beautification and a bike skills park.
Reminder: What signs of progress or success stories have you seen in Creighton in the past year?
Fidler: Over the last couple of years we have completed a lot of community beautification and will continue to do so. We have been able to upgrade and maintain all services to our residents with no or modest increases to taxes. I consider this a success.
Reminder: Several job-generating projects for the Creighton area have been considered over the past 20 years, including nuclear waste storage, sawmills and even a chopstick factory. Are there any such projects currently under consideration? If so, how many jobs might be created?
Fidler: We always have projects in mind that we try to entice to our region. Unfortunately, to this day we haven’t had any success, but we will keep trying.
Reminder: Nuclear Waste Management Organ-ization (NWMO) has given Creighton $650,000 for a Community Well-Being Fund. How much of the money is left and do you have any ideas on how it might be spent?
Fidler: To this point, we have used $150,000 of this money and that was a donation of $100,000 to the Hospital Revitalization and a donation of $50,000 to the Aqua Centre Fund.
