Don Atchison

Atchison was first elected to Saskatoon's city council in 1994 as councillor for the newly created Ward 10, and was re-elected in 1997 and acclaimed in 2000. He was well known for his campaigning style of standing on street corners and waving at passing motorists, a tactic that was eventually outlawed.[6] He sought initially to bring a business perspective to city government.[7] In 1996, he infamously brought forward a heavily derided proposal from local consultant Henry Feldkamp to enclose much of downtown Saskatoon in an $80 million, 10-storey climate-controlled glass atrium dubbed the "Atreos."[8][9]

Atchison was first elected as mayor on October 22, 2003 in a close four-way contest, unseating incumbent Jim Maddin.[2] He became just the second Saskatoon mayor to have been born in the city.[10] Atchison ran on a platform that included being tough on crime, freezing property taxes, centralizing control of city management, and resuming control of the city's police commission.[11] After his election as mayor, he briefly required citizens visiting the Mayor's office to be formally dressed, but the policy was dropped after being widely criticized and noted as a potential conflict of interest, given Atchison's involvement with the family men's wear store.[12] The policy was targeted by comedian Rick Mercer, who sponsored an online contest in 2004 that went on to name Atchison "Canada's Craziest Mayor," a title he jokingly embraced.[3]

Atchison oversaw a period of rapid economic growth, emphasizing the development of new neighbourhoods, infrastructure, and the renewal of the River Landing development adjacent to downtown.[7] He was re-elected by wide margins in 2006 and 2009, before earning a narrow bid for a fourth term in 2012 against political newcomer Tom Wolf.[11][13][14] In the 2012 election, Wolf targeted perceived mismanagement at City Hall, a lack of consultation with the public, and Atchison's reputation for boosterism, and won a majority of votes in all of the city's core neighbourhoods. Atchison was re-elected on a strong performance in suburban neighbourhoods.[15] As term limits for Saskatchewan municipal councils were extended at this time to four years, Atchison's fourth term would make him the longest serving mayor in the city's history.[10][16]

Atchison was known as a mayor who attended events prolifically, but by 2012 he also began drawing heavy criticism for never having attended a local pride parade, despite annual invitations from organizers. In 2015, hundreds of people circulated a letter criticizing Atchison's continued absence, though in 2016 Atchison continued to claim that his absences were merely due to scheduling conflicts.[17][18]

In 2016 Atchison launched a bid for what would have been a record-setting fifth term as mayor. He was ultimately defeated by former city councillor Charlie Clark, who ran against Atchison on a platform focused on inclusiveness and planning for future growth.[19]

After the 2016 election, Atchison worked as a consultant for Canwest Commercial and Land Corporation on the development of a World Trade Center in downtown Saskatoon.[6][20] In 2020, he launched a comeback bid for the mayor's chair, challenging the incumbent Clark and former provincial cabinet minister Rob Norris.[4] In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atchison positioned himself as an experienced leader best-positioned to guide the city's economic recovery. He renewed his early-career promise to freeze property taxes and criticized recently adopted initiatives including a new rapid-transit system and a new central library project.[4] He ultimately finished third in the race behind Norris and Clark, who was re-elected to a second term.[21]