News Releases

The City of Saskatoon has recovered roughly $380 thousand in funds that earlier this month were directed to a fraudster’s bank account through a fraud scheme. The vast majority of the remainder of the stolen money remains frozen by court order.

“Recovery of these funds continues to be a top priority and we’re encouraged to have over a third of the stolen money returned this early in the process,” says Interim Chief Financial Officer Clae Hack.

City Manager Jeff Jorgenson has committed to keep the public updated on recovery progress and to provide a formal public report once recovery efforts come to a close.

The City continues to actively work on the recovery of funds with banking institutions, the Saskatoon Police Service and the legal team based in Toronto where most Canadian banks are headquartered.

On August 16, 2019, an Ontario Superior Court judge ordered the City funds to be frozen. The vast majority of the $1.04 million obtained in the fraud scheme has been identified, traced and locked down by the Court.

View related news releases on this matter on saskatoon.ca.

Today, the City, along with more than a dozen community partners made up of First Nation, Métis and non-Indigenous employers, employment, education and training institutions, business associations and community organizations, launched the Indigenous Engagement Employer Handbook. A resource for small and medium sized businesses, the Handbook aims to provide guidance and practical options for employers seeking to improve their Indigenous workforce recruitment and retention outcomes.

“Indigenous people are the fastest growing labour resource in our province. It only makes sense that we make the effort to engage in a meaningful way to ensure that we connect opportunities with Indigenous communities and people,” says Lisa Mooney, Nutrien Global Lead, Sustainability and Strategic Inclusion. “Nutrien has led the way in Indigenous engagement by going a step further in offering the Aboriginal Content Playbook. Tools like this, and the Indigenous Engagement Handbook offer resources and connections that remove barriers and support the successful outcomes of these valuable connections.”

The result of a series of workshops and consultations held in early 2019, the Handbook will serve as a valuable tool for companies looking to foster resiliency, enhance competitiveness and become an employer of choice for Saskatchewan’s Indigenous workforce.

“Businesses are at different stages in their Indigenous engagement process and will need distinct strategies and capacities to reach their goals,” says Gilles Dorval, Director of Indigenous Initiatives, City of Saskatoon. “While not every suggestion in this handbook will be relevant for every organization, we hope that many of the suggestions will resonate with most employers.”

“SREDA’s goal is to promote effective Indigenous economic development strategies to encourage and support economic inclusion and growth in the Saskatoon Region,” added Alex Fallon, CEO of the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority. “This handbook will serve as an important tool to help employers better engage with Indigenous employees and partners, to the benefit of the entire community.”

As new ideas and technologies change the way people do business, Indigenous people are connecting with these changes and looking for opportunities to participate and lead.

“Starting with Affinity was a life-changing, amazing experience. They helped me try to find what I needed to do. I went in there with no experience, I didn’t even know what type of behaviour I needed to get through. The HR Advisor at the time asked, ‘what types of resources do you need to help you’,” says Chantel Buffalo, Affinity Credit Union. “She was open and honest with me and talked with me lots. It was very helpful to have a support system to get me through training.”

The Handbook is made possible through the support of community investors Nutrien, Affinity Credit Union and the Saskatoon Community Foundation. For more information and to download a digital copy of the Indigenous Engagement Employer Handbook, visit www.sacap.ca.

The Indigenous Engagement Employer Handbook responds to Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action #92 calling on the corporate sector to engage in meaningful consultation and develop respectful relationships with Indigenous communities and businesses as well as provide equitable access to jobs, training and educational opportunities to Indigenous peoples.

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 supporting a diverse, resilient, and growing economy and enhancing well-being and participation of Indigenous peoples in our community.

The City of Saskatoon again received a positive endorsement from S&P Global Rating Services, which today reconfirmed the City’s ‘AAA’ credit rating.

“Of course we’re very encouraged with this rating,” says Clae Hack, Interim Chief Financial Officer. “The rating agency points to a ‘strong and diversified’ economy in our city, the fact we’ve kept debt ‘minimal’ and are able to pass budgets before the start of the fiscal year as benefits.”

Highlighting “sound financial management,” S&P today affirmed ‘AAA’ long-term issuer credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on the City with a “stable” outlook.

Key points within the August 26, 2019, S&P report are:

• Saskatoon is expected to “maintain a strong budgetary position over the next two years”
• Saskatoon’s creditworthiness reflects strong financial management
• Saskatoon’s “…management accountability is strong and financial policies are prudent.”

“As is always the case, the 'AAA' rating is important,” Hack says.  “It provides that certainty for anyone looking to invest and create jobs in Saskatoon and it allows us at City Hall to plan for the growth that happens as a result.”

The City’s mid-year ‘AAA’/Stable credit rating affirmation comes as a result of S&P publishing updated methodology on July 15, 2019, for assigning ratings to local and regional governments outside of the United States. The intent of the changes is to:

• Better capture country and entity-specific nuances while continuing to reflect global calibration and comparisons;
• Streamline and simplify the criteria while maintaining its analytical robustness; and
• Allow analysts to tell a better credit story through the application of more flexible criteria while ensuring a consistent criteria application.

The mid-year ‘AAA’/Stable rating for the City report was reissued based on a cursory review using the new criteria as well as the most current information as of the date of the reissued report. 

For more information, the report entitled “City of Saskatoon Ratings Affirmed at ‘AAA’; Outlook Remains Stable” is available on the City’s website saskatoon.ca.

-30-

Following an extensive veterinary examination, the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo has made a difficult decision to next week say goodbye to Ma the Capuchin Monkey.

“We don’t take a decision like this lightly,” says Zoo manager Tim Sinclair-Smith. “We know announcing this makes many of us uncomfortable about the animals we love and care for however Ma’s health and quality of life continues to decline and we have made the medical and humane decision to let her go.”

Ma has been in palliative care at the Zoo and has needed prescribed pain and anti-inflammatory medication.

“We have been managing Ma’s pain associated with aging for over a year but despite our best attempts, her quality of life has diminished and we are no longer able to control her pain,” says Dr. Dennilyn Parker an expert in Zoo, Exotic and Wildlife Medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

A Capuchin Monkey’s average life expectancy can be as much as 25 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity.

Ma arrived at the Zoo in 1974 from the U of S when she was about two-years-old – which makes her about 47 or older.

“With dedicated support, love and care here at the Zoo, Ma well surpassed the typical lifespan of her species,” Sinclair-Smith says.

“We are going to miss her and while we know this will have a deep effect on our staff and anyone who’s come to see her since the mid-1970s, it’s the compassionate thing to do.”

In a given year, the City cleans out between 3,000 and 4,000 service lines connecting residential properties to the City’s sanitary sewer system. The sanitary sewer system is like a giant funnel with over 75,000 connections all directed to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. When individuals put harmful things down the drain it can quickly become a significant problem in the sewer system.

To shift behaviors, the City has developed an education campaign that is targeted towards residential users of the sanitary sewer. The goal behind Prevent Irritable Sewer Syndrome is to build awareness of what is and is not to be flushed down toilets and rinsed down sinks, and to reduce the number of blockages experienced throughout the community.

“Most drain clogs occur when materials do not dissolve or break apart in water. The common culprit for clogged drains in our community is grease and flushable wipes”, says Russ Munro, Director of Water & Waste Operations. “Increased understanding of how certain materials impact the sewer system and how to properly dispose of these items will help decrease the amount of sewer backups residents experience, which can be extremely costly and very inconvenient.”

What can residents do to help?

• Wipe fats, oils and grease off dishes before washing.
• Compost organic waste (food scraps, coffee grounds and paper towel).
• Return pharmaceuticals to pharmacy.
• Dispose of wipes, diapers, personal hygiene products, and family planning products in the garbage.
• Unload hazardous products at the household hazardous waste drop-off site.

To learn more on how to protect your pipes and Prevent Irritable Sewer Syndrome, visit: saskatoon.ca/irritable-sewer-syndrome.

The City of Saskatoon continues to make progress on recovering $1.04 million in funds that earlier this month were directed to a fraudster’s bank account through a fraud scheme.

“While it is early in the investigation, we’re pleased to say most of the funds have been identified or traced and have been locked-down by Court order,” says City Manager Jeff Jorgenson.

Jorgenson says the City is chasing down every lead and working with banking institutions and the Saskatoon Police Service.

“Recovery of the remaining funds, further fortifying our controls, and gathering all of the facts continues to be the City’s number-one priority,” he says. “This is a very good start and we are cautiously optimistic about recovering more funds.”

A fraudster electronically impersonated the Chief Financial Officer of Allan Construction, asking for a change of banking information. The City complied, and as a result, the next contract payment intended to go to that company, was directed to the fraudster’s bank account. The fraud was identified on August 12, 2019.

“It’s very disconcerting that the perpetrator used my name and our company name to commit this crime,” says Allan Construction’s CFO Blaine Dubreuil. “We have done a security assessment and are confident that our systems were not hacked or compromised. We’ll be working closely with the City of Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Police Service as the investigation continues.”

The City has issued a claim with its insurer. To protect the integrity of the police investigation the City and Allan Construction are not at liberty to disclose further details.

Clarence Avenue and 14th Street now has an illuminated crossing that accommodates both pedestrians and cyclists, thanks to a grant from the provincial Traffic Safety Fund, derived from photo speed enforcement fine revenue. Earlier this year, the City received a $45,000 grant to install signage, special illumination and amber flashing beacons at the intersection. It is the first pedestrian-cyclist actuated signal in Saskatoon.

“Initially, only a pedestrian signal was to be installed,” says Jay Magus, Director of Transportation. “However, it made sense to add the cyclist signal as well because 14th Street is a shared-use on-road cycling lane.”

The crossing operates as any other illuminated crossing in the city, but includes a cyclist push button that is easily accessible to those who simply ride up next to it. Tips on how to use the new pedestrian and cyclist crossing are available at Saskatoon.ca/bike.

Residents of Nutana and Varsity View had identified Clarence Avenue and 14th Street as a necessary location for pedestrian safety improvements through the City’s neighbourhood traffic review process. In choosing recipients, the Photo Speed Enforcement committee looked at criteria focused on priority areas including intersection safety, aggressive driving, speeding and vulnerable road users.  

Provincial Traffic Safety Fund grants will be awarded twice annually. The City plans to continue submitting funding applications to improve safety at other intersections and school zones throughout Saskatoon.