Saskatoon professor wants stimulus money used for transit and downtown core

A University of Saskatchewan professor wants any stimulus money from Ottawa to be used to improve Saskatoon's downtown and transit system.

"These windfalls don't come very often, and when they do come I think it's time to pause and reflect on how our cities are growing and are they growing the way we want them to be growing," said Bob Patrick, who is in the Department of Geography and Planning.

A report byBloombergNews said the federal government is in talks to allocate $1 billion for infrastructure projects to Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Saskatoon's Mayor Don Atchisonwants to see the funds go to new roads.

"We've got interchanges that we want to build. We are ready to go. All we need is the funds to be ready to do the project," said Atchison.

But Patrick believesthis funding would be better invested in public transit, the downtown core and investing in existing infrastructure,not new infrastructure.

"The Federal Finance MinisterMorneausaid himself, he wants to see these funds going toward building long run productive capacity of communities. I think these are important words," said Patrick.

He says that the existing model of urban development focuses on building new infrastructure and expanding citiesbut that method is out dated and not sustainable.

Premier Brad Wall welcomed the possibility of additional federal funding.

"This is very hopeful. Minister Goodale has been very engaged with us and very aware of the challenges in the West, the challenges in our economy around the energy sector," said Wall.

"We have anumber of very important long term infrastructure projects that are essential for growing Saskatchewan into the future," said the Premier.