First woman sworn in as mayor of Saskatoon

After being sworn in Wednesday night alongside a mix of new and returning city councillors, Cynthia Block becomes the first female mayor of Saskatoon.

“Basically, all this week it hasn’t really felt real,” said Block. “I think it was honestly the point where I had to welcome the first councillor, and I had to say ‘as mayor of the city of Saskatoon’, and it was my words, that it felt a little jarring. And as I had to say that a few more times, I guess I’m getting used to it.”

Block wasn’t the only first. Senos Timon became the first black city councillor when he was sworn in to represent ward 2.

“I’m still processing it, it’s something that I didn’t feel is real,” said Senos Timon, ward 2 councillor. “When I first fled the war in South Sudan, I never thought that I’m going to be putting my name forward to run for city council. November 13, 2024, Senos Timon, an immigrant from South Sudan is now a councillor.”

Six wards will have new representatives.

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They’ll join four councillors who were re-elected including ward 10 councillor Zach Jeffries, who won his seat by acclimation.

He says city council has a good blend of diverse opinions and ideas.

“We also continue to have one of the few gender balanced councils in Canada,” said Jeffries. “And so with all of those pieces, with the 11 of us around the table, I think we’ve got the right recipe, or sorry, the right people, to get stuff done.”

Councillors say they’re ready to get to work on the issues that matter to their neighbourhoods.

Block says her plan to create a task force on homelessness and community safety will require input from all members of the community, and she wants council to decide how it is formed.

“We will have an excellent opportunity to start to be more proactive,” she said. “To be able to advocate together and also have a clear path so that, when dollars come to our city, we can deploy them on the ground as quickly as possible.”

While Wednesday night council meeting didn’t cover any major items, Block’s first real day in the mayor’s chair will be Tuesday morning for the governance and priorities committee.