Embracing diversity crucial to building strong Saskatoon, mayor says in State of the City speech

Charlie Clark says a lot has changed in Saskatoon since he entered municipal politics 13 years ago.

The mayor, speaking to a full house at the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce's State of the City address, said the city was a fractured landscape in 2006, with issues like the Neil Stonechild inquiry and the fate of the Gathercole building dividing the city.

Since then, Clark said, 70,000 people have moved to the city, eight new neighbourhoods have been established and River Landing continues to expand.

However, with an uncertain economic future and shrinking middle class, Clark cautioned against complacency.

"We have to decide how we deal with that uncertainty," said Clark. "Do we choose a divided community and turn against each other, or do we build on a legacy of community leaders of our past?"

As in previous years, Clark used the speech to talk about the importance of diversity in Saskatchewan and of ensuring everyone benefits from economic opportunity.

"It's just as important that we ensure diversity of opportunity as we do diversity of economic outputs," he said.

"And this requires us to build relationships within workplaces, within business networks, within neighbourhoods and within schools."

Clark said there are many different ways this is happening in the city, from the work of Reconciliation Saskatoon to businesses that are setting up atMuskeg Lake Cree Nation's urban reserve.

"Given the transformation of who we've become in the city in the last 10 years, now is the time to get this right," he said. "And we can build on our history of people working together to get there."

Clark highlighted the city's entry in the federal $10-million Smart Cities Challenge, which would use data collection and artificial intelligence to help keepIndigenous youth out of prison.

"Core to developing this proposal has been a group of Indigenous youth advisors who have shared their experiences and knowledge of what the real barriers are and [what] would make a difference in their lives," he said.

The mayor also highlighted other civic accomplishments, from the opening of the downtown Alt Hotel to 500 housing units in the downtown core.

"We have decisions to make around the next phases of River Landing, the future of the city yards," he said.

"We have a chance to put all these puzzle pieces into place in our downtown and make sure that they all work together."