How Saskatoon, Regina have responded to COVID
Both cities acted early in the outbreak, but didn’t always toe the provincial line
In the early days of the COVID -19 pandemic, as cities and towns raced to address the virus, the only certainty that existed was day-to-day life would not be going back to normal anytime soon. Five months into the pandemic, the Saskatoon Starphoenix and Regina Leader-post look back at how the province’s two largest cities handled the response to an unprecedented crisis.
SECOND-GUESSING PROVINCIAL MOVES
On March 18 — just days after the Juno Awards events and ceremony set for Saskatoon were called off — Saskatoon officials were “imploring” the provincial government to ban all public gatherings of any size. The province had, hours earlier, limited gatherings to 50 people.
“What we do in the next 24 to 48 hours will determine the longterm outcome for our city,” Pamela Goulden-mcleod, Saskatoon’s director of emergency management, said at the time.
Regina’s city council declared a local state of emergency on March 20, an order that went further than the province’s cap — then 25 people — on gatherings.
The City of Regina declared gatherings could be no more than five people and ordered retailers to close.
Three days later, the provincial government moved to overrule the city’s measure.
Mayor Michael Fougere said he was disappointed and wished the province was more vigilant as the virus spread.
“I respect their opinion and I respectfully ask them to add in or incorporate what we had in ours and maybe more. This is all about getting ahead of the curve,” Fougere said at the time.
Schools closed on March 20 across the province. Restaurants and bars closed the same day. By March 26, much of the economy was ordered shut down.
ROAD CLOSURES
While Regina and Saskatoon aspire to be at the table with Canada’s biggest cities, both broke ranks with the country’s largest municipalities and refused requests to make space for pedestrians and cyclists by closing roads.
Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and other cities urged people to get outside safely, and gave them space to do so. Saskatchewan’s two largest cities resisted calls to do the same.
DEALING WITH THEIR GROWING DEFICITS
Saskatoon and Regina both moved to enact a host of emergency measures, such as deferring property tax and utility bill payments, meaning residents suddenly out of a job would not be on the hook for late fees.
When the dust settled, Regina city hall pegged its losses at $20.7 million by September. Projections for next year point to a gap of between $6 million and $8.5 million. No “return to normal” is predicted before 2022.
The full scope of the city’s losses are not expected to be known until October.
“We are not anticipating a lot of natural increase in revenue growth. At the same time, the city is going to face an increasing operating cost,” said Barry Lacey, Regina’s executive director of financial strategy and sustainability.
“We are faced with a significant challenge.”
Lacey said the city opted to redirect $6.4 million earmarked for road renewal to cover shortfalls created by COVID -19; council later voted to use some of its provincial infrastructure cash to maintain roads, as Saskatoon did.
“I think the province realizes it will provide flexibility for municipalities,” Lacey said.
Saskatoon adopted a novel approach to dealing with its annual deficit, which was originally estimated at up to $68 million but slashed through various emergency measures to a little over $32 million.
Kerry Tarasoff, the city’s chief financial officer, engineered a plan to use provincial infrastructure cash to replace previously committed municipal dollars in the paved roadway preservation reserve.
That decision, approved by the province last month, freed up $27.1 million, of which city council agreed to keep $15 million in reserve.
That more than covers the current annual deficit estimate: $13.8 million. (The size of Saskatoon’s deficit shrank as the province moved to reopen the economy faster than originally expected, though city hall has indicated the financial implications could extend into next year.)
Regina opted to spend its $31-million share of the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program on nine projects, some of which will start this year. Many will run through 2021 and 2022.
MUNICIPAL PROJECTS
While Saskatoon city hall resolved to proceed with almost all municipal projects for this summer, Regina city council deferred or diminished several, including the summer Upass system, pest control and a composting pilot program.
BUSINESS RELIEF
Both cities have fielded requests from businesses and local groups whose revenues have been demolished by the pandemic, and both have reacted in decidedly different ways.
Regina city council voted in favour of $2 million worth of business relief, while Saskatoon’s elected officials rejected almost $5 million worth of requests, approving a total of $212,000 in specific relief measures.
‘WE WILL BE CHANGED IN MANY IMPORTANT WAYS’
The pandemic is far from over. Among the pressing issues likely to dominate discussions in the coming months: mandatory masks in indoor public spaces as fall comes and, with it, flu season.
“We will be changed in many important ways, and some of the ways we do things will be changed. I think many of those things will be for the better,” Saskatoon Mayor
Charlie Clark said in June of the long-term effects of the pandemic.
While the City of Saskatoon has stopped short of using the pandemic as an opportunity to review, and possibly overhaul, the services it provides, Jorgenson said time will tell what cities look like on the other side.
“I can absolutely see that conversation happening in the coming years,” he said in June.