The freezing temperatures brought the point home at a rally in front of Saskatoon’s City Hall over the noon hour, with concerned citizens advocating for help for the unhoused. A recent point-in-time count indicated there are at least 1,500 homeless people in Saskatoon, but there aren’t enough shelters or warm-up shelters to handle that number of people.

Mayor Cynthia Block spoke to some of the attendees and the media, and one resident suggested that the Mayor and Council members, when they are warm and secure in their beds, should remember that not everyone gets that luxury, saying, “Someone is going to die because we don’t have the capacity to house them all, and i’m sorry but if it was your family, your sisters, your brothers, you guys would put more effort into it.”

Block said she contacted the Social Services Minister yesterday (Tues) and they are urgently working on this. She stated, “I wanted to know where the gaps are and I wanted to know if there are gaps, and our information suggests there could be, and he pledged to get to the bottom of it.” She expects we will hear more this week. One of the questions at the rally was what happened with the federal funding. Block answered that it still needs to be formally approved by the federal government.

When asked if cities are feeling overwhelmed, she said, “I can’t speak for other cities, but I do know that it’s all hands on deck for both the administration and the elected officials. Council is very concerned, that we are… in being in a reactive process, that we failed to meet the challenge of our time, and that’s not okay.”

In the meantime, she advises anyone who sees someone who is unhoused who needs help is urged to call 911.