Community safety and wellbeing is essential for Saskatchewan municipalities

Many municipalities in Saskatchewan face serious challenges to community safety and well-being due to provincial and federal government policies, negatively affecting their ability to attract people to live, work, and visit. A lack of funding and resources for our RCMP and emergency services, decades of underfunding for social housing, and a slow reaction to the burgeoning mental health crisis have effectively downloaded these difficulties to municipalities, stretching already strained budgets and leading to greater costs in the long run. 

“Municipalities are the order of government closest to the people,” noted SUMA President Randy Goulden. “Unfortunately, that sometimes leaves us in the position where we see the greatest negative effects of social problems, despite having the fewest tools to adequately address them.” 

Mental health and addictions have been a major issue in Saskatchewan and across the country since the pandemic. Homelessness has also seen an incredible spike, with homeless counts tripling in Regina and Saskatoon over the last two years alone. While health and social issues are primarily the responsibility of provincial governments, we need the next federal government to amend the

Canada Health Act to adequately address mental health issues and to provide support and leadership for governments across Canada to better address these massive social issues. 

Removing access to dangerous drugs is another important component to addressing the mental health and addictions crisis, but it will require increased recruitment and substantial investments in RCMP services. In particular, RCMP need to do more to address organized crime and gangs bringing drugs into Canada.  

Investment in non-market and affordable housing is also critical, after 40 years of underinvestment by various federal and provincial governments.  

“Homelessness may be caused by mental health and addictions issues, but it is just as likely to cause them, and keep those suffering from healing,” stated President Goulden. “A failure to invest in supportive, non-market housing has, in many ways, caused our current crises, and they can’t be properly addressed until we see that investment occur.” 

This federal election, make municipalities matter. Visit suma.org for more information and to see the SUMA election hub.