Crime, growth and winter: Sask. big city mayors tackle hot-button issues

It's hard work being the mayor of one of Saskatchewan's two largest cities and it's only getting harder.

Fielding explosive growth over the last 10 years has been a major challenge. Add in perennial problems like crime and winter, and governing Regina and Saskatoon is becoming more and more challenging.

On Tuesday, mayors Michael Fougere and Charlie Clark fielded questions from the public on CBC Radio's Blue Sky on everything from hazardous waste days to snow shovelling. 

Growth

Unsurprisingly, the biggest issue for both mayors was how to deal with their growing cities.

Both Saskatoon and Regina have grown by leaps and bounds over the past 10 years, and both continue to be in the top five fastest-growing cities in the country.

One of the key issues continues to be managing the balance between infill development and new suburban developments on the outskirts of both cities.

"I think you can have a balance here," said Fougere. "Our general plan talks about 70 per cent new growth and 30 per cent infill. It strikes the balance, and we have wide general agreement that is the format that we should be following."

However, Clark is more cautious about suburban growth, and is aiming for a 50/50 split between growth in new and old neighbourhoods.

"The way that the financing works is that the neighbourhoods don't pay for all the services that are required to serve them," he said.

"Our parks branch has seen a 20 per cent growth in the amount of parks they have to look after, but the taxes that we're generating out of those new neighbourhoods don't provide the operating costs needed."

Fougere agrees, and believes Regina's laneway suite program is one way to increase civic density.

Crime

Year over year, Saskatoon and Regina continue to lead the country in crime rate and crime severity.

Last year, Saskatoon's crime rate rose six per cent. Regina's crime rate rose by more than 11 per cent.

However, both mayors agreed that cracking down harder on criminals is not the answer.

"Frankly, our system is quite broken," said Clark. "There are too many instances where people are falling through the cracks, and those social conditions that lead to crime are not being dealt with effectively."

Both Clark and Fougere advocated for more integration between police, social services, education and health as a way to deal with the issue.

"It's about partnerships and how to deal with them in the broadest possible way," said Fougere.

Winter

Another major issue for both cities is how to deal with winter weather. Callers brought up everything from bus shelters to snowshovelling bylaws, proving that even in October, winter is never far away from people's thoughts.

"It's one of our biggest handicaps as a city," said Clark. "In many cases, it feels like an endurance test rather than a season to enjoy properly."

Fougere said people in both cities need to embrace the province's frosty temperatures, and the city can have a big role in doing that.

"We certainly want to develop winter festivals that celebrate this major time of the year," he said. "There are other cities around the world that have organizations for winter cities, and we probably haven't taken that up as much as we could have."