Sutherland parent frustrated over cancellations of emergency shelter meeting

The mother of two children who attend a Ukrainian bilingual school near the site of the new Sutherland emergency shelter says she’s utterly disappointed that two community consultation meetings scheduled for next week have been cancelled.

“We’ve been actively asking for answers; this was our opportunity to see those answers,” she said. “Now, who’s going to answer the questions?”

Amanda Braschuk said she has been in contact with Saskatoon city officials, the provincial government and city councillors about parents’ concerns that the 30-bed shelter will be less than 100 metres from the Bishop Filevich School playground, and next to an arena as well.

She wanted to be clear she’s not opposed to the shelter, but opposed to the current location.

“Not near schools. It’s about protecting children. Somewhere along the way, I think we really, really failed that protection for kids,” she said.

Braschuk said many of the children attending the elementary school, and their families, are still suffering from their experience in the war in Ukraine.

“We had some parents who didn’t want their kids playing outside at recess and lunchtime because they didn’t know if their kids were safe,” she said.

“We’ve gotten these parents to a point where we’ve shown them that they can thrive here, that they can have their kids outside.”

Now, she said, the opening of the shelter is causing them to worry for their children’s safety again.

“A lot of them are scared,” said Braschuk.

Fairhaven parallels

Fairhaven Baptist Church pastor Robert Pearce said he sees some similarities between what he and others living near the Saskatoon Tribal Council Emergency Wellness Centre experienced more than a year ago.

While Pearce did acknowledge there were four information sessions held by the STC prior to the shelter’s opening, he said that once again, residents don’t have a say in the location of a shelter before a final decision is made.

Input on how a shelter could impact the community as a whole becomes irrelevant at that point, he added.

“There’s tons of great questions that are not being answered already,” he said, adding it was “incredibly disrespectful” for the meetings to be cancelled days before they were to be held.

While the city consultations on Tuesday and Thursday of next week have been cancelled, Ward 1 Coun. Darren Hill will still hold a meeting for concerned residents on Sunday between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Bishop Filevich School.

“What is it that they’re going to present at a later date that’s different than what they have now?” Pearce wondered. “To me, this looks very bad on the city.”

Braschuk hopes she might learn more from Hill at Sunday’s meeting.

“We have no answers, and it’s scary to think that it could look like what’s happening to other communities,” she said.

City, province and The Mustard Seed responses

A statement from the City of Saskatoon indicated no one was available for an interview on why the public consultations were cancelled.

A request for an interview with The Mustard Seed’s incoming CEO, James Gardiner, was redirected to media relations. No information on an interview time to answer questions about what types of services the organization is expected to provide in the community was provided by the time of publication.

The provincial government did not respond for a request for an interview either, instead sending a statement.

“Government, along with the City of Saskatoon, continues to work toward the opening of new shelter spaces, and updates will be provided as they become available,” the statement said.

The City of Saskatoon said neighbourhood information sessions will be rescheduled within the month, with more details available here and on social media channels.