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Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark says he was hoping for more “strategic investments” to prevent overdose deaths in this week’s provincial budget, including funding for Prairie Harm Reduction’s safe consumption site.
While he praised the government’s spending on expanded mental health and addictions services, he said supervised drug consumption sites not only save lives, but also make neighbourhoods safer.
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Try refreshing your browser. Clark hoped for safe consumption site investment in provincial budget Back to video
“We are facing a crisis in our community when it comes to overdose deaths, and it’s affecting many families and many people,” Clark told reporters during a virtual news conference on Wednesday.
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Saskatoon’s director of finance is crediting the provincial government for helping city hall avoid a “very dire” shortfall that could have drained reserve funds and added to the property tax burden.
Kari Smith said the city’s own cost-saving efforts, such as a discretionary hiring freeze, helped whittle the projected deficit for 2020 down to $701,813 from the worst-case $32.9 million forecast last spring.
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Last year was unprecedented for the city, which was forced to contend with lost revenues due to COVID-19 as well as the Nov. 8 snowstorm that pushed the snow removal budget $10 million into the red.
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There were no alarms and no surprises for Mayor Sandra Masters on Tuesday coming out from the provincial budget.
Masters, in her first terms as Regina’s mayor, said much of what was put forward was “stable and steady.”
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“I’m pleased it’s not an austerity budget. I’m pleased they’re not going to contract the economy further,” said Masters.
The biggest item of note coming out of the budget for Masters was that revenue sharing held steady.
(Logan Stein/980 CJME file photo)
Sandra Masters was pleased to see a stable and steady budget come from the provincial government on Tuesday.
Regina’s mayor said she was glad to see the level of revenue-sharing between the province and municipalities remained where it was at $275 million.
“I’m pleased they’re not going to contract the economy further. That would be problematic for the City of Regina,” Masters said.
She said the provincial budget will allow the city to complete everything it set out to do from its own budget passed last month.
The provincial budget is forecasting a $2.6-billion deficit, but there were increases to health care and education spending.
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The provincial government will have to juggle demands for new funding in the face of strong fiscal headwinds, as it prepares to table another deficit budget on Tuesday.
Premier Scott Moe has framed the 2021-22 fiscal plan as a “recovery budget,” while both he and his finance minister have signalled that the government is likely to jettison the four-year balanced budget pledge it made during election season.
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Jim Farney, head of the politics and international studies department at the University of Regina, doubts the reversal will prove especially damaging for the Saskatchewan Party.