News Releases

Encouraging individuals, businesses, and communities to keep the fire burning to spark change in our lives and city, the theme for the fourth annual Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation is Re-igniting the Fire.

“The Rock Your Roots Walk is an incredible example of coming together with the common cause of creating a better future for the generations yet to come,” said Mayor Charlie Clark. “The theme this year of Re-igniting the Fire is a reminder that we all have a role to play in this journey. As we seek the best for our community, we have to look inwards for answers and for action. We have so much potential in all of us, in our city, to help lead the way in living in right relationship and seeing strength in one another.”

The Walk honours survivors and answers the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.

"The Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation, honours residential school survivors, 60's scoop survivors, day school survivors and Murdered Missing Indigenous Women and Girls,” says Shirley Isbister, President, Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. “The walk is a day to promote diversity as we all walk together to support reconciliation in our community. We all need to re-ignite the fire of answering the calls to action."

Along the walk route, participants experienced live music, dance and entertainment - from traditional Indigenous performances to the Filipino Heritage School to Dance Egypt. The Walk joins with National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations hosted by the Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre. Celebrations include free lunch, special guest speakers, live entertainment and fun for the whole family.

“I am very proud to be part of Rock Your Roots Walk in the spirit of Reconciliation,” says Mark Arcand, Tribal Chief, Saskatoon Tribal Council. “As we are all Treaty people we need to continue working together to promote partnerships and relationships so we can all have a quality of life.”

The “Rock Your Roots” Walk for Reconciliation is one of a number of events organized by Reconciliation Saskatoon, an initiative of 98 organizations, non-profits, businesses and partners who have come together towards one mission: to initiate a citywide conversation about reconciliation and provide opportunities for everyone to engage in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

“The significance of the Walk goes back to the days we were children -- when on Sundays we were allowed to go for a walk,” says a residential school survivor who wishes to remain anonymous. “This was the only time we got to mingle with the girls and a short time that we were able to see our sisters, cousins, and brothers. We could go on this one mile walk as long as we were finished all our duties or if we weren’t in trouble.

When the TRC came together, we thought of ‘how can we start this journey?’ That is with a Survivors Walk -- a walk with our family -- a walk to remember all the children who are now gone, who are missing, who are still here: a Walk for Reconciliation.”

Since 2016, the Walk for Reconciliation has grown, drawing almost 5,000 people to Victoria Park to recognize the sacrifices and resilience of Residential School and Day School Survivors, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and 60s Scoop Survivors. The event is made possible through the generosity of community investors, including the Saskatoon Community Foundation and Nutrien.

For more information, visit facebook.com/ReconciliationSaskatoon or www.otc.ca. 

The City of Saskatoon’s commitment to the TRC’s Calls to Action supports the City’s Corporate Strategic Goal of Quality of Life by identifying actions for enhancing well-being and participation of Indigenous peoples in our community.

As one of the initial steps in developing the City’s first multi-year business plan and budget, the City’s Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC) today set the indicative municipal property rate target less than 3.94% for 2020, and 4.17% for 2021 previously presented to maintain services.

Administration presented three property tax options for the GPC Committee to consider.  The Committee resolved that Administration report back in August for options to produce a budget less than the current estimated costs to maintain existing services and implement the city-wide organics program phase-in.

“With the indicative municipal property tax rates set today, our teams will now spend the next few weeks focusing on where we can shift resources within the budget,” says Kerry Tarasoff, Chief Financial Officer. “Committee directed Administration to bring back options for them to consider.”

The report to Committee outlined a targeted municipal property tax increase equal to 3.94% in 2020 and 4.17% in 2021, which includes an additional 1.0% towards the city-wide organics program and the waste operations/landfill operating deficit and funding shortfall.

“This process provides the Administration with a guideline to prepare the budget in advance of final deliberations in late November,” Tarasoff says. “When considering the phase-in of the organics program and the deficit in waste operations, we’ll be looking at the options available to us to reduce the impact on property tax rates and related service-level impacts.”

Setting the indicative municipal property tax rate for two years provides greater certainty for residents about the future direction of property taxes. The process gives Administration direction to further refine the budget including service level changes and initiatives aimed at achieving City Council’s Strategic Priorities.

The indicative property tax rate acts as a starting point or baseline. City Council can change it as it makes final decisions on the budget priorities it wants to invest in. The City’s final budget, and related municipal property tax rates, for 2020 and 2021 will be made at budget deliberations set for the end of November 2019.

The new multi-year business plan and budget process supports better alignment of the City’s longer-term goals and objectives, and delivers improved financial stability, transparency and accountability.

For more information on the City’s multi-year budget, visit saskatoon.ca/budget.

The City’s commitments to explore new ways to improve service to residents, increase savings for the corporation and grow Saskatoon in a sustainable way are highlighted in the 2018 Saskatoon Strides Report on Service, Savings & Sustainability.

“The annual Strides report showcases the progress our City’s teams’ continue to make, and how our culture of continuous improvement is embedded into everything we do,” says Dan Willems, Interim Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer. “I’m very proud of our employees and the work they accomplished in 2018. Our teams continued to look at finding new ways of doing business to avoid future costs, and to create new efficiencies in our everyday work – their efforts lower our costs, save us time, and allow us to better deliver our services to citizens.”

2018 Strides Report Highlights:

• Through continuous improvement initiatives, the City realized $1.82 million in savings, with federal grant funding approved for $1.84 million.
• Saskatoon Land delivered $21.3 million in total financial returns, with $2.5 million contributed to the City’s General Revenue.
• Sustainability programs diverted over 28,400 tonnes of waste from the landfill.
• The City received numerous local and national awards and recognition, notably another ‘AAA’/Stable credit rating from S & P Global Rating Services, and a Gold Infrastructure Award for the Bridging to Tomorrow Project.
• The City hosted and participated in a wide variety of Indigenous initiatives in response to the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC’s) Calls to Action, and was awarded the Peacemaker Award for an ongoing commitment to mediation and conflict resolution within our community.
• Service Saskatoon continued to instill a culture of high-quality, citizen-focused service, improving how the City delivers front-line service and promptly connects citizens to the answers and information they need.

“We will continue to improve our processes to deliver excellent customer service. Our teams’ remain committed to finding additional efficiencies through creative solutions and new corporate-wide initiatives,” adds Willems.

The report also includes kudos from residents, Saskatoon Transit’s service improvements and Indigenous initiatives the City undertook in response to the TRC’s Calls to Action.

Find the full report and details on the financial savings and project initiatives on saskatoon.ca. The Strides report will be presented to the Governance and Priorities Committee Monday, June 17, 2019.

Saskatoon’s “Rock Your Roots” Walk for Reconciliation is back for its fourth year in Victoria Park on National Indigenous Peoples Day - Friday, June 21, 2019 at 9:30 a.m.

We invite people of all ages, cultural backgrounds and abilities to come together and learn about reconciliation, honour survivors, and to celebrate the strength and vibrancy of our diverse community.

The theme for this year is Re-igniting the Fire - a reminder that we cannot delegate reconciliation. We must commit as individuals, businesses, and communities to listen, learn, show up and share. We must keep the fire burning to spark change in our lives and city.

WALK WITH US: Organize your friend’s, your family, your community! We invite individuals, businesses, non-profits, faith communities, school groups and more to join the walk as a group. Show your support! Here are some ideas we’ve seen from our incredible walkers over the years:
- Carry your company/organization banner
- Get t-shirts made
- Wear the traditional/cultural dress of your heritage to “Rock Your Roots”
- Create handheld signs to carry with you and/or your group

The Walk joins up with National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations hosted by the Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre. Celebrations include free lunch, special guest speakers, live entertainment and fun for the whole family.

Everyone is encouraged (but not required) to “Rock Your Roots” by holding or wearing traditional symbols of your culture to show and share the diversity within our community.

FULL SCHEDULE:

7:00 a.m. Pipe Ceremony – open to all. *Information on Pipe Ceremony protocol can be found on page 24 of the ayisīnowak guide on Saskatoon.ca/ayisīnowak.

9:00 a.m. Grand Entry of dignitaries and special guests

9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation. Gather at the start line for a group warm up exercise! Victoria Park (Avenue F south & Spadina Crescent)

11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations. Free lunch, cultural entertainment, special guest speakers and family fun as hosted by Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre.

Celebrations are free and open to all. Golf carts will be available for those unable to walk.

For more information, follow on Reconciliation Saskatoon on Facebook or visit saskatoon.ca/reconciliation or otc.ca.