Saskatoon council puts downtown bench removals on hold until 2027

A plan to temporarily remove 25 benches from downtown Saskatoon is officially on hold.

On Wednesday, city council approved a recommendation to postpone the removal of benches until September 2027, except in cases where repairs, maintenance or replacement is required.

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Administration initially presented the report to a council committee in response to a request from the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) to remove several benches from the downtown area. However, earlier this month, the committee voted to postpone the removals.

Speaking at city hall on Wednesday, executive director of the Downtown BID, Shawna Nelson, said a small number of benches have become sites of repeated criminal activity, emergency responses and biohazard conditions.

She said some benches have deteriorated to the point where they can no longer be effectively cleaned, repaired or safely used.

“Many of these benches are decades old, and there’s wood deterioration, absorbing urine, feces, vomit and contaminants,” she said.

Nelson said 25 of the downtown’s 217 benches were identified for temporary removal, but added that if council wanted a more gradual approach, the organization could narrow that list to 10 benches where concerns had been documented.

Coun. Bev Dubois introduced an additional motion to direct administration to work with the BID on options to remove the 10 benches. She also clarified that the motion would allow the committee to consider whether those benches needed more immediate attention.

However, Dubois’s motion was defeated.

Colleen Christopherson-Cote with the Saskatoon Poverty Reduction Partnership also spoke at city hall, stating the benches themselves are not the problem downtown.

“What we’re actually seeing is system failure, and we’re responding to it with that visual of misuse of benches,” she said.

“It can’t be us against them.”

Christopherson-Cote suggested more public washrooms and a “community well-being safety approach” to address issues downtown.

“This is not about intervention. It’s not about policing. It’s about creating a space for vulnerable folks.”

Mayor Cynthia Block said removing benches would not address the underlying issues downtown.

“There is no evidence on earth that shows that by moving benches that you’re doing anything other than moving the concerns that people have,” she said.

Block said the city should focus on long-term solutions such as housing and wraparound support systems to help make downtown and other business districts safer and more welcoming.

“We need to get very serious about working collaboratively as a community, as business leaders, as electeds, and lobby together,” Block said.

“I can’t support this when I know that what we really need to do is focus on the actual solutions.”

Additionally, at city hall on Wednesday, council unanimously supported expanding the non-smoking buffer around doors, windows and air intakes from three to 10 metres.

Executive director of the Riversdale Business Improvement District, Randy Pshebylo, raised concerns about the impact the bylaw would have on the district’s nighttime economy.

“This ain’t broken. Why are you doing it?” Pshebylo said.

Pshebylo suggested that the three-metre separation remain in the business district, but city council still backed the 10-metre bylaw change.