Council to decide on cart sizes for waste collection

Efforts to reach deal with SPCA also on Monday agenda

The city's move to charge households for garbage collection as a utility bill, rather than funding it out of general revenue, is expected to take another step forward when council meets on Monday.

Councillors will also consider a motion from Mayor Charlie Clark to have the city adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and get an update on ongoing contract discussions between the city and the SPCA for animal pound services.

WASTE COLLECTION

Council is being asked to decide how many options should be available under a new, variable-rate waste collection utility. The program's fee structure is meant to charge more for households that send the most garbage to the landfill.

A report from city staff recommends councillors pick a program offering three different cart sizes. Councillors have also been presented with an option to provide just two carts. Under either version, the current black carts familiar to most homeowners would be considered the largest size.

Council is also being advised to vote to pay for the new carts by borrowing against future revenue from the waste collection utility.

UN DECLARATION

Mayor Charlie Clark has put forward a motion calling for the city to adopt UNDRIP.

The declaration, first adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007, offers guidelines for the relationship between governments and Indigenous groups.

UNDRIP has received broad backing from many Canadian Indigenous organizations, including the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan, and was adopted federally in 2021.

A report by the city administration notes Saskatoon's reconciliation efforts have been guided since 2015 by the final report issued by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The TRC final report itself refers to UNDRIP as “the framework for reconciliation.” As such, city staff have reported they don't believe adopting UNDRIP at the municipal level will come with any direct added costs, as many of the principles underlying the document are already part of city processes.

ANIMAL POUND

City staff are scheduled to present Monday on the ongoing effort to reach a new deal with the Saskatoon Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on pound services. SPCA leaders approached the city late last year with concerns that the non-profit's contract wasn't covering the actual cost of running the pound, forcing it to dip into donation money.

Council voted this spring to increase the SPCA'S funding from $490,000 under the original contract to $700,000.

The SPCA has previously stated it needs a minimum of $890,000 a year to sustainably run the service.