Saskatoon residents spar in special hearing over housing accelerator fund

Over 50 speakers are debating the pros and cons of the proposed zoning changes for the federal housing accelerator fund in a special hearing at Saskatoon's city hall on Thursday.

The event has run throughout the day. CTV News streamed proceedings from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., but our stream has now ended.

The hearing continued and readers can continue watching on the City of Saskatoon website.

Critics have called on city council to delay the zoning changes required by the federal government to access more than $41 million in funds to build new housing and address a lack of affordable housing.

Last Friday, Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cary Tarasoff filed a statement of claim against the city, hoping to delay or halt the zoning changes, which would allow developers to build taller and higher-density residential buildings without a special permit.

Tarasoff claims the move could overtax the city's aging infrastructure, like sewers, roadways and the landfill, and the federal government's tight timelines to access funding leave little room for engineering assessments.

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On Monday, a King's Bench judge rejected his lawsuit, declining to intervene in the decision of a duly-elected municipal government.

"This appears to be a disagreement by a voter with the direction being taken by city council," said Justice Natasha Crooks.

"The remedy is their vote at election time. The court will not involve itself with the affairs of a duly elected council unless it has acted illegally."

On Wednesday, fellow mayoral candidate and current Sask. Party evacuee Gordon Wyant came out on Tarasoff's side, calling for a pause on the decision to approve the required zoning changes.

"We must ensure that any changes we make benefit the entire city, without compromising the unique character and needs of our diverse neighbourhoods," he said in a news release shared on X.

Cynthia Block, mayoral hopeful and current Ward 6 councillor, said she initially opposed the housing accelerator fund, but the circumstances have since changed.

"I have always advocated to grow our city smarter. Growing inward and upward helps Saskatoon become more affordable, efficient, and sustainable but this must be done with community input and a full understanding of the impact," she said in a letter to a constituent shared on Reddit.

In the letter, Block says city administrators put a lot of effort into mitigating potential harms from the new regulations, and now that the federal government is tying other vital city funding to the program, turning it down is more complicated.

"This would mean things such as large basic infrastructure projects may not move forward. Cities rely heavily on other orders of government for large capital projects," she said.

"As we prepare for the public hearing this Thursday, I am speaking with officials in Ottawa and working with colleagues to find ways to ensure our neighbourhoods are respected. So far, Ottawa has agreed to some important made-in-Saskatoon changes that mitigate impact through regulation."

If council rejects the housing accelerator funds on Thursday, Block says they risk losing those concessions the city has already negotiated, and the city may still be forced into less restrictive zoning policies, even if the federal Conservatives form government.

Both parties have advocated for these pro-density policies, she says.