The final State of the City address for Saskatoon’s outgoing Mayor included a few touching moments when he had a catch in his throat as he reviewed his years on Council and as Mayor and the challenges and progress he has seen. Charlie Clark spoke to members and guests of The Chamber at TCU Place.
His message to the next Mayor is to get to know the people in the community. Meet people from all walks of life. Clark appreciates the Councillors he has worked with and the Administration staff, and says together, no matter their political stripe, they have found solutions to difficult challenges, like what to do in a pandemic.
His message to the next Mayor is not to forget that people aren’t statistics or the troubles they are having. Everyone has a story, and one of Saskatoon’s strength is its diversity with people moving her from around the province and further afield. Clark says, “We need to keep understanding that our ability to build a strong city in the future comes from our ability to build relationships across those diverse backgrounds, so each person can bring their talent, their gifts, their wisdom to help in building a strong community.”
With a population of 300,000, Clark realizes that services including mental health and addictions support, helping people out of poverty, and affordable housing haven’t kept up. He hopes the provincial and federal governments will help with these challenges, saying cities can’t afford to do it all through property taxes. He understands that when it comes to homelessness and mental health and addictions, people are falling through the cracks. “We do not have enough treatment supports in place. We do not have enough supportive housing in place. We have people who don’t have hope and very addictive very cheap drugs.” He stresses that we need to keep treating people as human beings. Clark adds that the provincial government’s 15-bed treatment facility for those with complex needs is expected to open in a few weeks.
The federal government recently announced the Housing Affordability Fund, with some stipulations for what is built, like preparing for four-plexes in what are usually neighbourhoods with single family homes. Clark understands some people will balk at that. “And that’s why we are doing important work to figure out what would be the right regulations to have in place to facilitate the four-unit developments or even in some cases the four-storey developments , but still recognize you have to have a balance in terms of the existing neighbourhoods.” He explains that the only other way to grow is outward, and that means installing all the infrastructure and maintaining it yearly, which is much more costly that in-fill housing.
