Latest news with #SUMA
CBC
18-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
'Very disturbing': STC chief blasts Saskatoon city councillor's shelter comments at SUMA
Social Sharing Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) Chief Mark Arcand didn't hear the public comments a city councillor made about his emergency shelter, but it only took a moment before he heard about them. On Wednesday, Saskatoon Ward 3 Coun. Robert Pearce spoke during a "bear pit" session at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) annual convention and asked Premier Scott Moe if he would consider replacing STC as the operator of the Emergency Wellness Centre in the Fairhaven neighbourhood. "When he stood up at SUMA, my phone blew up," Arcand said at a Thursday news conference. "People were telling me what he just said and I was concerned. I wasn't there to defend our name, our reputation in front of strangers, other mayors, other councillors." Pearce, first elected to city council last year, represents Fairhaven and made moving the STC shelter out of the neighbourhood his top campaign issue. STC operates the 106-bed shelter, which opened at the current location in 2022, under a service and funding agreement with the province. Arcand said Pearce's comments are "very disturbing" when the city is dealing with a housing crisis and a rise in homelessness. Arcand questioned why Pearce is singling out an Indigenous-led shelter, while ignoring issues at other shelters in the city. "If this is his own personal view then he should not be a city councillor in my view," Arcand said. "He needs to be working with all of us together to try to solve a crisis we have in Saskatoon and not to target STC anymore. This has to stop." Pearce did not respond to messages requesting an interview about STC's response. This is not the first time Pearce and Arcand clashed over STC's Emergency Wellness Centre. Pearce has blamed the shelter for a rise in crime and other disturbances in the neighbourhood. Arcand said crime rates have since returned to levels seen before the shelter opened. Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block called Arcand on Wednesday after the SUMA convention. Arcand said the mayor apologized for Pearce's comments. The mayor's office confirmed the two spoke, but did not provide details about the call's contents. On Thursday, Block posted a Facebook message thanking people working with and supporting unhoused people in Saskatoon, and specifically mentioned STC. "As a vital and trusted partner to the City of Saskatoon, STC continues to lead with compassion and strength, playing a pivotal role in addressing homelessness in our community," Block said in the social media post. "Their leadership and cultural wisdom are helping shape solutions rooted in dignity and inclusion." The SUMA bear pit lets mayors and councillors from across the province put questions to the premier and cabinet ministers in a public forum. Pearce asked Moe two questions. "Will this government honour their promise to reduce the beds in Fairhaven now that another shelter is in place, and will you work with the city in order to find replacement beds for those shelters?" Pearce said at the SUMA convention, referencing the opening of a new downtown shelter. "And secondly, will you consider replacing the operator as more successful operators seem to be in place and seem to be enjoying much more success with the communities around them?" Moe had a clear answer for Pearce. "We're not looking at replacing the operator," Moe told delegates. Moe also said there are no current plans to reduce the beds at the Fairhaven shelter, but suggested smaller shelters could be the standard model as the province opens up more facilities in Saskatoon and other communities. STC and the Ministry of Social Services are negotiating a new funding agreement for the Fairhaven shelter that will run to the end of the 2025-26 winter season. Reducing the 106 beds is not currently part of the new agreement, Arcand said. Earlier this year, Pearce toured Saskatoon streets at night with homeless advocate David Fineday. They met people who are unhoused, handed out hot drinks and offered rides to shelters. "There's a very real situation. People are going to die," Pearce said at the time. "We keep talking about delays with budget and needing to do things quicker and better because people die regardless." WATCH | Saskatoon city councillor says night walking the streets showed harsh realities: Saskatoon city councillor says night walking the streets showed harsh realities 3 months ago Duration 2:49 Ward 3 Coun. Robert Pearce spent a night on the streets of Saskatoon hearing what supports are needed to tackle the city's homelessness crisis.
CBC
14-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Infrastructure funding top of mind among Sask. urban municipalities
Social Sharing The cost of improving and building new local infrastructure — and who will pay for it — has become one of the focuses at this year's annual conference of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA). SUMA president Randy Goulden said the federal government's Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) is already tapped out. "I've talked to so many municipalities, our members, these last few days very concerned because the program, it's allocated fully. There's nothing else coming out and it is essential that we get some funding," Goulden told media during a scrum on on Monday. WATCH| SUMA airing Sask. cities' key election issues: Infrastructure, interprovincial trade: SUMA airing Sask. cities' key election issues 6 hours ago Duration 3:50 The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) is meeting this week for its annual convention. Jean-Marc Nadeau, CEO of SUMA, joined CBC Radio's The Morning Edition to discuss what issues matter to civic leaders this federal election. Goulden stressed that municipalities are not asking for handouts. She said they want to be partners with the federal and provincial governments. "We need those things so that our communities can continue to be sustainable and provide the jobs and the industry and the commerce to make our province healthy, but also to feed everything that the province has to do around health and education," Goulden said. Provincial political leaders respond Held in Saskatoon, this year's SUMA conference featured appearances from Premier Scott Moe and Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck. Moe agreed with Goulden, saying a new infrastructure program should be a priority for whoever forms government after this month's federal election. Moe said inflation has affected every municipality in the province. "We will need a new long-term stable infrastructure funding model so that municipalities can plan, and so that they can cost-share not only with the federal government, but with the provincial levels of government as well," Moe said. Beck said she agrees that the federal government needs to lend a hand, but also accused the provincial government of a lack of action. Beck said she's spoken to many urban officials at SUMA and at other events and heard the same complaint — that the funding the province provides to municipalities isn't enough. "[Municipalities] are responsible for about 60 per cent of the infrastructure in this province, but they have access to only less than $0.10, about $0.08 for every dollar. That is simply not a workable situation without support from other levels of government," Beck said. Moe touted his government's "record increase" in municipal revenue sharing as proof of how serious it takes the issue of infrastructure. In its 2025/2026 budget, the province boosted municipal revenue sharing by $22 million to a total of $362 million. That was a 6.3 per cent increase from the previous year's budget. Moe said that money is disbursed to municipalities with no strings attached and that makes it a "one-of-a-kind program." Goulden thanked the province for that increase. The SUMA president also urged the province to meet with municipalities as soon as the federal election is over to "hit the ground running" and ensure all levels of government are on the same page.
