What an NCAA rule change might mean for junior hockey in Sask.
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Previously, WHL players were declared ineligible to play NCAA hockey in the U.S.
Nearly 24 hours after the release of the provincial budget, Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark responded to what was funded — and what didn’t make the cut.
Clark said his biggest want was more investments to create jobs, so the city can recover economically once COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror.
“Municipal revenue-sharing is a really critical part of that,” he said. “It’s critical for the city to continue to provide services, and invest in the infrastructure that we need as well.”
It works out to be around $400,000 less for the city this upcoming year based on that revenue share. At the same time, $49 million will still come to the city for the upcoming year.
Clark added city officials are waiting on around $500,000 in infrastructure projects requested from both the provincial and federal governments through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIF).
“We need to unlock those dollars,” he said. “I was hoping to see another round of (Municipal Economic Enhancement Program)-type funding because that’s a very efficient way to get the city helping to drive the recovery … It’s been more complicated to get money from the ICIF program.”
The one per cent share was moved down to 0.75 per cent for revenue-sharing this year, but Clark added it was something municipalities expected. He said he will continue to advocate to strengthen the program in years to come.
In terms of the health file, Clark said he was happy with what the province did with addictions and mental health, but he felt that more opportunities were missed.
“We are facing a crisis in our community,” he said, pointing to the overdose crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 400 people in Saskatchewan in the last 14 months.
“I was happy to see that there were some investments for some expanded harm reduction opportunities, but certainly was hoping to see some of those strategic investments in, whether it’s the Prairie Harm (Reduction’s) overdose prevention site or other expansions of these harm reduction services, so we can break the cycles of overdoses.”
For the second straight budget, Prairie Harm Reduction’s $1.3-million ask for a full-time safe consumption site was denied.
Clark was asked why the city doesn’t give the organization the funds to operate.
“For the city to take on and backfill a project like this when the province doesn’t sets a dangerous precedent,” he said. “I don’t want that to become the trend as to how we deal with these issues.”
He wants to continue to build relationships and partnerships to work together on those types of initiatives and said work has been done to come together through the Saskatoon Safe Community Action Alliance.
The new electric vehicle (EV) tax that takes effect Oct. 1 makes owners of the vehicles pay an annual $150 fee. It’s about fairness, according to the province, to make sure EV drivers pay for wear and tear on the province’s roads — something gasoline drivers do through a portion of the fuel tax.
Clark was asked if that would impact the city’s Low Emissions Community Plan (LEC).
“We have been identifying and moving forward strategically on elements of the (LEC) that are really about making that transition to a low-carbon economy that the world is moving in the direction of. It’s becoming increasingly clear that in Saskatoon or in Saskatchewan, if we don’t take those steps we will be left behind,” he said.
“I am concerned about the signal that the EV car tax sends as the first province in the country to be looking at that. I understand the need to have maintenance and investment. The impact of this on actually being able to achieve those goals will be very small, but it does send a signal that I believe is challenging.”
Clark said he will continue to work with the province on the LEC’s goals, and mentioned work has been done with SaskPower on the plan.
A $53-million remand centre is also on its way to Saskatoon, budgeted in the latest cycle.
Clark did not say if he supported the project, but had a hopeful outlook on the corrections file as a whole.
“My hope is that we continue to look at investments that, more and more, get people out of jails and out of incarceration,” he said.
Notably, Clark said he was happy to see Saskatoon’s Urban Camp get funding, which works to integrate those incarcerated back into society.
The investment in the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) got another thumbs up for his budget review.
“This is something our Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police have supported, and it’s been called for in a number of the different inquiries and investigations into serious incidents that have happened,” he said.
Clark said it would move away from the “police policing police” adage that the province has followed for these serious incidents. Saskatchewan is the lone jurisdiction in Canada not to have a program such as SIRT in place.