Saskatoon Saskatchewan - Mayoral candidate Don Atchison says his ability to negotiate directly with railway executives will be enough to relocate tracks cutting through the city, despite the failure of all previous efforts to relocate them.
 
Atchison tied his plan to move Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.'s (CP) main line out of the city with opposition to the planned bus rapid transit-style system, which he said does not make sense with trains holding up traffic.
 
Speaking to reporters at a news conference near CP's old Saskatoon station on Idylwyld Drive, Atchison suggested he alone would be able to strike a deal with CP to move the line to an unspecified location outside the city.
 
"I can tell you right now, when I was the mayor there was certainly a relationship there and we were having a dialogue about moving the rail lines. We're going to re-engage again," Atchison said.
 
"Bureaucrats dealing with a project this significant will go nowhere fast, the only place that things happen is when people at the top, sit down at the table and have a heart-to-heart discussion," he added.
 
Earlier this month, CP and Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) blasted a proposal that they share the latter's corridor south of the city.
 
CP called it "fundamentally unworkable," while CN deemed it "not feasible."
 
"I think that's an opening negotiating position for the railways," he said.
 
Atchison did not specify where he would like to move CP's main line, nor how he would pay for it, while advocating for no property tax increase next year, except to say it will happen over years.
 
The former mayor also took aim at what has emerged as city council's backup plan to look at building one or more overpasses and underpasses, saying above and below grade crossings create divisions in the city.
 
"Saying that you can't move the tracks is certainly the best way of not doing anything," he said.
 
Former mayor Sid Buckwold successfully moved CN's line out of the city in the 1960s.
 
Relocating CP's line, which causes traffic delays and hinders emergency vehicles, has long been considered a possible but costly and time-consuming venture.
 
Atchison also criticized the BRT proposal, describing it as a "$500 million project" even though city hall has estimated the transit system overhaul will cost between $90 million and $150 million.
 
He prefers more frequent regular bus service, he said.
 
He also touted large infrastructure projects that were completed or started during his previous four terms as mayor, including three bridges and the development still underway at River Landing.
 
His campaign website notes his private sector experience, but Atchison distanced himself from Canwest Commercial and Land Corp.'s proposal, for which he was the chief spokesman and public face, to build a $50 million tower on 22nd Street.
 
Atchison announced the World Trade Center Saskatoon at a splashy news conference in 2017, but the start and completion dates were later pushed back.
 
No work has taken place at the site and the project appears stalled.
 
"I do not own the project, I was a spokesperson for them, I was a consultant for them, and that's it," he said.
 
Atchison is running against incumbent Charlie Clark, who defeated him in 2016, and challengers Rob Norris, Zubair Sheikh, Cary Tarasoff, and Mark Zielke.
 
Alex MacPherson.