Housing, homelessness, and community safety are Saskatoon city council’s biggest priorities for the city as it begins to plan for the future leading up to the end of the decade.
“We heard on the doorstep loud and clear that [homelessness] is the single greatest issue our city faces and so that is its own strategic file,” said Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block.
Speaking to reporters at city hall Monday, Block outlined 10 key priorities for the city to focus on for the next four years. The list includes:
-Housing and Homelessness
-Community Safety
-Core Services
-Culture, Parks and Recreation
-Downtown
-Economic Development
-Environment
-Reconciliation, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI)
-Transportation
-Urban and Regional Growth
“It’s our road map for the next four years designed to address the pressing issues our community cares about.” said Block.
She added the draft plan aims to balance long-term vision with short-term action, and hopes to make interactions with the city more “modern, simple and responsive”.
“In my view, we are building on what we have already begun, and also making some pivots to better reflect what we are hearing from our community.”
When asked about homelessness being a part of the provincial government’s jurisdiction, Block recognizes cities are on the front lines of homelessness, but still need the tools and resources from other levels of government.
“It will require, and I believe I’ve said this many times, all of us,” Block said. “Other orders of government for sure, core responsibilities of government need to be honoured, and learning to work more innovatively, I would say, with Indigenous governments.”
Saskatoon’s business community applauds plan
Economic development is another area of priority for council, wanting to put a strong focus on how the city can be a partner to Saskatoon’s business community.
Keith Moen, executive director of the North Saskatoon Business Association, is applauding council’s efforts to plan for the future. But while the plan strives to take on a lot for the city and its residents, Moen would like to see more focused priorities.
“We think that’s a fairly ambitious plan and we commend them for wanting to have impact in those areas because they are certainly priorities,” said Moen.
“Having said that, we’ve always maintained there are four key areas that the city should be focusing on. Those include protective services, waste management, infrastructure, and transportation.”
In order to have the strategic plan line up with the priorities of the people, the city is encouraging feedback from all community members as to what they would like to see be at the forefront of Saskatoon’s future.
The survey is currently live and can be found at Saskatoon.ca/engage. It will be open until September 19.