Emissions
Waste Diversion
Freeway Through the Swale
Transit
City Densification
Housing
Culture & Health
Economic Development
Houselessness
Emissions
I am always committed to lowering emissions and I believe the Low Emissions Community Plan has provided a fantastic framework for achieving this. The plan has missed most of its targets because of the human variable. We can never plan for everything, but we can try. I believe the increased use of delivery alongside a more compartmentalized society post-quarantine has changed the way we live, and since has had a great effect on our sustainable progress. We are in a prime position to move forward as a community if we can acknowledge where we left off, and adapt to a quickly changing future. This can be done on a local scale.
Waste Diversion
As of October 2024, a bylaw requiring Saskatoon businesses to separate organic materials from garbage has come into effect. I support this wholly as both a resident of Saskatoon and the General Manager of a local restaurant. However, I would like to see more support in accessing a reasonable means of participating in waste diversion.
For example, restaurants must pay a third party for the bins and pick up/remove their waste privately if they do not produce enough waste to merit this cost. The only alternative I have found to this added cost is applying for exemption which defeats the purpose of the bylaw.
Freeway Through the Swale
As a candidate working to represent the people most affected by this project, I am strongly opposed to interrupting the natural biodiversity for an unnecessary freeway. It may have an effect on traffic, but it causes disruption for local wildlife that end up traveling into Ward 5 and creating issues for local citizens.
I have heard from many constituents that they are already experiencing issues with coyotes, foxes, and racoons entering yards and crossing streets where they are vulnerable. This project would create more problems than good, and I do not support increasing animal control in order to cope with the change in the natural landscape. It is important to adapt our community to live with the animal residents in a safe way for everyone.
Transit
I have seen firsthand the effects of inaccessible transit in our city creating barriers for folks obtaining jobs, which creates barriers for businesses finding and retaining good employees.
I am excited about the Link Bus Rapid Transit system, but we need to put more consideration into where bus riders live and where they need to go when planning our routes.
Transit access was a consistent barrier to hiring good people while I was managing a restaurant in Brighton. While residing in Rosewood at the time, I had a car and my commute was 12 minutes. After losing an employee to lack of transportation, I decided to put myself in the shoes of my potential employees, and I took the bus to work from Rosewood. Even with the on demand transit my commute went from 12 minutes in the car, to 90 minutes on the bus each way.
I currently reside in the City Park and work in Riversdale. If I ride the bus to work I would be adding 20 minutes each way to my commute.
This does not incentivize me to use transit and that feels like a wasted opportunity.
What is sustainable for the city needs to be sustainable for the bus rider as well.
City Densification
Promoting densification in Saskatoon means growing pains for some neighbourhoods.
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Rezoning from single family homes to multiple unit buildings is one way to build up instead of out, and this can help lower housing costs by increasing availability in core neighbourhoods.
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Building up also means providing adequate services, like realistic transit availability and investing into existing walking/biking paths.
Housing
Given how well established the beautiful neighbourhoods of Ward 5 are, my focus would be on increasing the energy efficiency of existing housing. I would use all resources available to me as a City Councillor to support our transition to an energy efficient city with opportunities for citizens to capitalize on retrofitting their existing homes, especially multi-unit housing.
There are increasing opportunities and resources for becoming energy efficient and lowering energy costs for everyone if we are bold enough to take them and invest into our future collectively.
I would also take special care in participating in the sustainable care of our green spaces, focusing on the relationship between the human and animal residents of the ward. City sprawl has taken a toll on the wildlife habitats within our city and this is particularly noticeable in Ward 5. I will work hard to find the balance.
Culture and Health
Saskatoon has a diverse population across the city, and every neighbourhood has specific needs. Ward 5 is on the cusp of northern Saskatoon where part of the appeal is the natural beauty that surrounds the area. Protecting existing green space and natural biodiversity is a key piece of continuing to be an inviting city to live in.
Connecting Ward 5 with the rest of the city in addition to the downtown core is key in opening up our residents to economic opportunity. That said, transit expansion cannot be centered on getting folks to and from work or school alone, it needs to connect us to everything the city has to offer in fostering a good life for everyone. Increasing walkability and bike safety play an important role in this as well as continuing to expand and improve the transit system.
Economic Development
The DEED does not adequately address the needs of the downtown core and does not discuss the effects of radically changing the cultural landscape. Building up does not necessarily mean investing into projects that are meant to only benefit businesses, and not the people who live and work there. Without rapidly changing transit accessibility to cope with the influx of foot traffic, the downtown core will be inundated with traffic jams with suburban citizens each driving their own cars into the area. Adding more parking lots does not contribute to the health of the downtown core and the citizens who call it home. There must be a more nuanced discussion of how to approach investments into communities by including local people in that process.
I would encourage more engagement with not only the local business owners, but the employees themselves. We need to ensure that this project works to the advantage of the entire community.
Houselessness
Having worked in the downtown core for much of my career, I have gained insight regarding the issue of houselessness from meeting and making connections with unhoused folks themselves. The thoughts shared with me by one person in particular stands out even years after speaking with him. This gentleman told me that he was intentionally houseless because he knew many unhoused people himself and he recognized that they needed personal support when getting themselves through hard things. He did not just mean supports like mental health or addiction services, or food and clothing - although those supports are key - he meant the need for friends and family. The need for community. I have seen firsthand what friendship can do for houseless folks.
We, as a city, need to become better neighbours together.
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​Increasing the availability of low income housing opportunities in Saskatoon will ultimately lift up some very vulnerable people, but it is not enough for the city to invest into long term solutions without addressing the current dire needs. I will advocate for changes that can also address the current needs of having so many unhoused community members going into another unpredictable winter season. Offering more warm places for people to get some rest in and bringing much needed supplies (clothes, hygiene, meals) will reduce the amount of deaths this city will experience over the next months.
We might not be able to solve something as complex as houselessness overall, but we can immediately mitigate the most dire results from continuing to ignore vulnerable people while the weather changes for the worse.