Clark tells Chamber that Saskatoon is nearing a turning point

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark believes the city is coming to a positive turning point more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and now is the time to look towards the future.

He delivered his State of the City address to dozens of members of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. In what has become familiar pandemic-related humour about online video meetings, he joked about his attire just ahead of his speech.

“This could very well be the first State of the City address in history delivered by a mayor with an Elwood Flynn suit jacket on top and Hawaiian shorts down below. You’ll never know,” he laughed.

Clark acknowledged the toll the pandemic has taken on families of those lost, those who were still suffering from the after-effects of the virus, the sacrifice of frontline workers, and businesses that have financially suffered.

However, he said it felt like there was now a sense of possibility on the horizon with vaccines flowing into the province and more people vaccinated every day.

“We have seen the tremendous strength of our community through this all. So now it is an important time to look to our future, and to use this as an opportunity to be ambitious for how we will rebuild after COVID and become the city we want to be in the future,” said Clark.

Clark asked participants to recall what the city was like 15 years ago and then to try and imagine what the city could be like in 15 years — and where they would like to see themselves, their children and even their grandchildren.

“So now let’s imagine our city in 15 years — 2036. Imagine a city where there are four areas that define Saskatoon,” he said.

Those four areas of focus include developing a vibrant downtown area and entertainment district, a safer and healthier community, more manufacturing and technology-based jobs, and a more culturally and ethnically diverse city.

Clark touched on the the development of a new plaza and festival site along the South Saskatchewan River, construction developments, the new downtown library concept design and plans to create the new entertainment district.

He added Saskatoon police are also coming up with more strategies to make the downtown area safer, and talked about additional housing strategies that might be developed to try and eliminate chronic homelessness.

Over the past 15 years, Clark said more than 80,000 people have moved to Saskatoon, and each brought hope, talent and experience.

“But if thousands of them experience barriers to belonging and reaching their potential, our city will not thrive,” he added.

He also took a dig at the “freedom rallies,” where White Nationalist flags have appeared as signs of intolerance and hate.

“We will not let these forces win,” he emphasized. “This is not who we are as a city.”