Former cabinet minister miffed about council’s sister city snub

A former Saskatchewan cabinet minister thinks Saskatoon city council missed an opportunity when it opted to defer indefinitely a decision on a sister city request from Wisconsin’s capital.

Rob Norris, a former Saskatoon MLA and minister in the Saskatchewan Party government, contacted The Starphoenix to criticize a decision made by city council on Monday.

Council opted to develop a framework for dealing with sister city requests like the one received from Madison, Wis., but to not pursue the relationship at this time.

Monday’s decision was made by council’s governance and priorities committee, but the matter will resurface for a final vote by council on Dec. 17.

“I’m very concerned about council’s direction and it is an important decision,” Norris said in an interview Wednesday. “Council is essentially ignoring an overture of friendship from Madison, Wis.”

Norris dismissed the idea that sister city or twinning relationships are merely symbolic. These types of arrangements include substance as well, he said.

Norris spoke from Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he said efforts to build a relationship with Saskatchewan are apparent. He pointed to trade between Wisconsin and Saskatchewan in 2017, which was worth about $800 million, according to a City of Saskatoon report.

“International trade for Saskatoon is like oxygen,” Norris said. “This is a really significant trade partner for Saskatchewan.”

Council’s decision could have implications for decades, he said.

Norris also noted the rocky trade relationship between Canada and

the United States with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum.

“Now’s the time to build better relationships with the United States,” he said.

Norris, who did not seek re-election in 2016 and now works as a senior strategist with the University of Saskatchewan, stressed that he was speaking in his capacity as a former cabinet minister.

Council voted 6-5 to work on a policy to deal with future requests like the one from Madison.

Saskatoon has formed sister city relationships with three other global cities, the last between Chernivtsi, Ukraine, in 1991. The others are Shijiazhuang, China, (1985) and Umea, Sweden (1975).

Council opted not to adopt a formal twinning policy in 2007. The sister city request from Madison comes from the Canadian Consulate in Chicago.

Madison has paired with nine sister cities under its program, but none are in Canada.