By Sarah Rae

City councillor frustrated with double standard in parks funding

Jun 8, 2016 | 5:00 PM

North Battleford city Coun. Ryan Bater said he and the rest of the Battlefords River Valley Committee are frustrated with what they see as a double standard in funding to urban parks in the province.

For the budget this year, the provincial government eliminated all funding to the urban parks in the Battlefords, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Weyburn and Prince Albert. These are five of the seven urban parks in Saskatchewan. Funding for the other two, Meewasin Valley in Saskatoon and Wascana Centre in Regina, was maintained with a possibility of cuts next year.

Bater asked Finance Minister Kevin Doherty about the funding elimination and double standard at an event at the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, June 8. He said Regina and Saskatoon were given a warning that allowed for them to plan for cuts, and argued the other municipalities should have been notified as well.

“We just signed a five-year agreement with your government six months ago and so we proceeded with projects because we had no indication that funding would be in jeopardy,” he said. “That puts us in a really difficult position because we actually awarded tenders for this construction season.”

Doherty emphasized the tough decisions the government had to make considering the deficit this year several times throughout the meeting, citing their investment in new cancer drugs.

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“Do you add 15 new cancer drugs to the formulary that costs about $15 million on an annual basis or do you continue providing $540,000 in urban park funding to those five communities?” he said. “Those are the kinds of decisions we had to make. What is our responsibility to provincial taxpayers? I would argue healthcare delivery is our primary responsibility.”

In terms of the double standard, Doherty said they have legislative responsibilities to the parks in Saskatoon and Regina but would be looking into the notification process, and said he accepted Bater’s argument that it could be seen as unfair. He also said Wascana Centre is a bit different because it’s in the provincial capital.

The budget maintained the one percentage point of PST for municipalities across the province this year, and while revenues have increased, the amount of money municipalities receive has, too. Doherty said that increase in revenue, about $68,000 would almost make up for the $87,000 cut to funding for the river valley, although that municipal revenue is not just for parks but the whole municipality to use.

Bater said he doesn’t consider parks to be an unnecessary investment or luxury, as the city and town try to promote active living and a healthy lifestyle in the community. He said residents often list the river valley as one of the most important pieces of the community.

He said it’s one of the Battlefords’ greatest strengths, but also the most underdeveloped opportunity. The river valley is maintained all four seasons, for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and other activities.

“Building trails costs money, putting new lights up costs money, bathrooms cost money and until last week half that money was coming from the province of Saskatchewan and now it’s not going to be,” he said.

Since the committee recently signed a five-year agreement with the province for funding, Bater said they assumed the funding was there so they went ahead with plans for development over the summer. Now, he said, they’re at a loss for where to come up with the finances.

“At the very least my hope is that the city and town will maintain its existing levels of funding to maintain the partnership between our two municipalities. That level of funding may allow us to maintain what we have, but I don’t believe it’s going to allow us to actually grow and develop the river valley further,” he said.

The committee has a meeting Monday, June 13, where Bater said they’ll have to determine how they will get through not only this year but the next several years.

sarah.rae@jpbg.ca

@sarahjeanrae