Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block delivers first state of the city address

Nearly six months to the day after she was elected by a large margin of voters, Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block delivered her first state of the city address to hundreds of Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce attendees at TCU Place on Wednesday.

She began with a video presentation followed by a brief speech that touched on a new Homelessness Action Plan, new affordable housing units under construction, and the continued development of a regional economic plan that includes communities outside of the city.

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“Saskatoon really is the economic engine of our province, and honestly, we owe that to a thriving business community,” she told the room.

Block described the creation of a new “facilitated business forum,” as a way for the city to receive feedback on concerns and goals, starting with a QR code survey for all participants at the event.

“How this business forum is going to begin is with a survey, and we’re going to ask you, basically what you think our city needs to do to make it better for businesses,” she said, adding that all of the details on the forum hadn’t yet been “figured out.”

Block was also asked a variety of questions by two panelists, including Tracey Kowalchuk, with T.K. Leadership Coaching and Training, and Jason Aebig, Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce CEO, who hoped to find out more about what budget deliberations might look like in late November and early December.

“It’s a very intense process. This will be your first kick as mayor and for many of the new councilors it will be the first go-through, in terms of this new budget,” he said.

“You’re constantly looking for ways to be more efficient,” answered Block. “I think everything we do is connected to a service, and based on the affordable issues… I don’t think that we should be surprised that we’re going to have a struggle with the budget.”

Aebig also asked what property taxes might look like as deliberations begin in the fall.

Block did not mention any numbers, but said administration and council has already been making some decisions along the way; as they get “asks” and reports from various organizations, they can be assessed.

“I think I’d be super surprised if we don’t see another, not small increase based on the kind of inflationary pressure we are experiencing, based on the homelessness fight that we face,” she said.

Block touched on the pause of the Downtown Event and Entertainment District (DEED)  after a question from Kowalchuk, telling the crowd that while the city had to stay “steely focused” on addressing homelessness, the DEED project was also still in the background and ready to go when circumstances allow.

“As we are dealing with an era of tariffs and we have a province who is asking us to buy local and re-think our procurement strategies when we are in a time of a lot of uncertainty in terms of what world trade is going to look like, I think it made sense to our administration and council to delay going forward with a private partner at this time,” she said.

Block also briefly spoke about the growing concerns about sand bars in the South Saskatchewan River, and the economic impact to Saskatoon businesses and to community groups, along with the potential dangers to other river users.

She couldn’t say whether the city’s discussions with the provincial government and the Water Security Agency would result in any changes in the near future.