State of the City
Saskatoon and Saskatchewan overall have fared much better than some provinces so far regarding this COVID-19 Pandemic. It is my strong hope that we continue to do our best to minimalize this outbreak and that we maintain our full support for all those that are working tirelessly to keep us healthy and safe.
Even if the pandemic were suddenly over by tomorrow, it should be clear now to most that the effects of these past months will last with us for a number of years to come. It is now known that our federal government is running far into a negative position and I believe it is also inevitable that our own provincial government will have serious negativity in its own budgets at some point. If that fact is realized, then it is pretty clear that our own city finances will be put under incredible stress, for the short term if not also for a longer term. While future planning on a host of city items needs to always take place, we need to realize that we are living in a tough time where some of our loftier goals will have to be well planned for but positioned in wait for the multi levels of financing needed to make such projects move to fruition. Things like a new library or even the proposed new arena will need a fresh review and that review may need a few updates to even know what direction the potential is moving in. Capital projects will need to be prioritized but those which already have functioning redundant equivalents will have a harder time finding airspace among more critical operational budgets within the city.
In the meantime, and while in a tighter situation, I believe the City should greatly limit, if not totally refrain from, purchasing more lands for large scale projects. Instead, the City should be urged to streamline commercial permit processes so as to get more viable projects into the ground and to get more of our own residents back to work.
I personally believe that Canada has not lived up to its obligations to the First People of this land, however, unless the jurisdiction of Saskatoon has not lived up to any particular aspect, other than my support for the general effort of the Indigenous to get the proper results from our provincial and federal governments, I would prefer to find real ways to help those local residents to help themselves. We always need to keep this in our minds as we move forward, but we still need to move forward as a community and to change and improve as we move through time. It is beyond the scope and control of the Mayor of Saskatoon to solve the majority of Indigenous issues. I would lend support to the greater effort whenever asked but, in general, my focus will be solely on the operational situations around the City of Saskatoon and how that directly affects our Indigenous community members.
