Best of the fall season to you.

At City Hall, we are still doing an overhaul of our growth plans with the Growing Forward Shaping Saskatoon process, including plans for a Bus Rapid Transit system and an Active Transportation Master Plan. These plans all have impacts on Varsity View as an area bounded by key transportation corridors that are central to these plans.

There will be meetings coming up in the fall with opportunities for on-line engagement that you can check out at www.growingfwd.ca. Now is a very good time to make your voice heard. We are also working to invite more citizens into the City Budgeting process earlier, which you can learn more about at www.saskatoon.ca/city-hall/budget-finances.

The Federal election campaign is now well underway. It has become very clear to me as a City Councillor that decisions made in Ottawa have a big impact on our ability to build a strong healthy community here. Out of every tax dollar collected in Canada, cities take about 8 cents. We are dependent on strong partnerships with other levels of government to deliver necessary infrastructure, programs and services that provide a good quali-ty of life to all citizens.

As we move ahead with plans for a Bus Rapid Transit plan it will be essential to have support from the Federal government to help pay for new buses, and better shelters and stations, just as we rely on support for bridges and overpasses. Solid commitments to infrastructure spending make a huge difference in our ability to ensure we can keep our roads, bridges, sewer and water lines in good condition.

Other important issues in our city also require a strong partnership with the Federal government to be successful, such as: tackling homelessness and affordable housing, building a path to reconciliation between First Nations, Metis and Non-Indigenous people, creating good jobs in a well-diversified economy, taking meaningful steps towards addressing climate change and building a stronger renewable energy sector, ensuring good policy and programs to support settlement and integration of new immigrants.

These are issues I will be talking to candidates about as the election unfolds, and I hope you will too. Our country continues to have tremendous potential even as we face tremendous challenges. Creating a healthy diverse nation for future generations depends on creating healthy and diverse communities!

Please sign up for my Civic e-newsletter for more information about the debates and decisions happening at City Hall.
Regards, Charlie Clark