The year 2020 was quite the incredible experience to go through for many, including Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark, who says he saw a city adapt and make changes as quickly as it could.
Clark says he saw incredible resilience , innovation, and a spirit of cooperation really come through in the past year, during the global pandemic. Clark says through all the challenges of the pandemic he saw organizations that worked with the vulnerable population and Indigenous partners rally and work together to come up with a way, through the inter-agency response, of providing support that was unprecedented. Clark says other cities have looked to Saskatoon for how well the response was. Clark says he saw police, fire and ambulance all adapting to ensure people were staying safe.
He saw neighbours looking out for one another, by sewing masks and helping to deliver groceries to those who needed them.
Clark says for many months Saskatoon was one of the safest places to be in the world last year, and while that ground has been lost during the second wave, the strength of the community has carried us through it. Clark wanted to thank citizens for all of the sacrifices, work and effort that has been taken to this point, and encouraged residents to continue to take public health guidelines very seriously, to keep as many people alive as possible.
The Municipal Election
Looking back at the 2020 municipal election that was shortly after the provincial election, in the middle of the largest snowstorm in 50 years, and during the pandemic, Mayor Charlie Clark says you couldn’t really write that script.
Clark says the city, it’s citizens, and his campaign team all rose to the challenge. He suggests they did their best under the circumstances to get his message out about why he wanted to stay in a leadership role, especially to get the community through this difficult time. Clark says he is very grateful to citizens for the endorsement, giving him a clear mandate to be mayor for another four years.
Mayor Clark says with the late date of the election, the possibility of snowstorms impacting citizens ability to vote, and the closeness to the provincial election, he will be advocating for a change of dates in 2024.
Clark suggests it’s not benefitting anyone having elections close together, and whether it’s the provincial or municipal election that changes, he thinks they should be separated by seasons.
A Lower Tax Increase for Saskatoon
Mayor Charlie Clark says being able to bring in a lower tax increase for the citizens of Saskatoon in 2020 was possible because the city came into the pandemic in a strong financial position.
Clark says Saskatoon is only one of three cities in Canada with a Triple-A credit rating, and has a strong system of reserves. He thinks council has brought in a responsible and balanced approach to the budget for the coming year, but knows 2022 will still be challenging. Clark states council will work hard to bring in as many efficiencies as they can in the way they run the city, while continuing to keep people working, investing in infrastructure, creating jobs and improving the quality of life for citizens.
Clark says there is every reason to believe that Saskatoon will be well positioned to have a strong economic future.
He explains the city has what the world needs, has a strong entrepreneurial community, and just before the pandemic was seeing more attention with growth in the tech sector. Clark says he is optimistic about Saskatoon’s future.
Looking Ahead to 2021
Mayor Charlie Clark believes what we are seeing across North America is mid-sized cities are becoming more appealing for people to live in and for businesses to invest and create jobs. Clark says Saskatoon has a combination of great quality of live, and advantages over bigger centres like less congestion and affordability . He suggests the city also has the fuel, food and fertilizer the world needs and that’s why he is optimistic about the future of Saskatoon, and building upon the momentum the city has seen.
Clark says in 2021 the city will be working to build a strong downtown core, with the largest residential project in the history of Saskatchewan is being built at 25th Street and 5th Avenue, that includes over 400 units of development.
He adds the city will work to address downtown safety issues, working with the provincial government, police and Tribal Council, to help fix systems that are broken.
Clark hopes to help get the homeless housed and to try and tackle the challenges of drug addiction that are in the community.
He says through this spirit of collaboration and working together that he believes a strong future can be built.
