Mayor Charlie Clark says if there is to be a downtown arena complex in Saskatoon, it can’t be built without the private sector’s help. The arena was one of many topics covered during the North Saskatoon Business Association’s Mayor’s Luncheon on Wednesday.
Clark explains that when it comes to building a new facility like an arena downtown, the City has to have a role because it has a responsibility for land use, transportation, and other infrastructure, but the complex can’t happen without champions in the business community because all the burden can’t be on taxpayer. He gave the example of the new Rogers Place arena in Edmonton, where the Katz Group helped to make the construction a reality.

Mayor Charlie Clark also mentioned Edmonton as an example of what we don’t want when it comes to garbage and recycling. He says when Edmonton closed its landfill, the cost of starting and running a new one meant doubling the charge to residents from $20 a head to $40.  Clark stresses it’s not about postponing the need for a new landfill, but instead not having to build another one at all because of the cost.  Right now, the city says 58 per cent of what is going into the residential garbage bins is organics that could go into a compost bin. Mayor Clark says the first in a series of events on this issue is organics and garbage collection in single family homes, followed by multi-unit homes like town homes and apartments, and then the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors.