He was elected mayor on October 24, 2012 with 42 percent of the vote among nine candidates, running on a platform that included housing, infrastructure, regional economic development and continuing the Regina Revitalization Initiative.
[2] Prior to his election as mayor, Fougere served on various civic boards such as the Wascana Centre Authority, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, Tourism Regina and the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District.
During his first mayoral campaign, Fougere was the lone candidate that supported the funding arrangement between the city, the province and the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the construction of the new Mosaic Stadium, which opened in 2016.
Under his tenure, a city-wide referendum on a new waste water treatment facility was held on September 25, 2013.
The issue of the referendum was whether the facility would be financed through a Public-private partnership (P3) or through the design-bid-build (DBB) approach.