The Cities Act, Saskatchewan Version
by John Sewell, MuniMall Guest Columnist

Saskatchewan has frequently proved itself an innovative province, most notably for the successful creation of medicare under Tommy Douglas half a century ago. It has continued that tradition with the creation of new municipal legislation to govern Saskatchewan's 13 cities. ('City' is a malleable word here: the largest settlement in the province is Saskatoon, with 210,000 residents, while the city of Melville has a population of a mere 5,000.)

The legislative process was an innovative response to a familiar situation. Two years ago municipal officials grew tired of waiting for the province to respond to their concerns. They decided to create their own agenda of legislative reforms for municipalities. The coordinator of the project was Teresa Dust, city solicitor for Saskatoon, and as she describes it, "The idea was to do it as a cooperative effort within existing resources. The key was that the mayors were all together and committed." Using legislation from other provinces as models, the group quickly put together a draft that was presented to the government in October 2001. A lawyer experienced in drafting legislation turned the draft into a bill that could be passed by the Legislature.

Government officials felt that the municipalities were proceeding too hastily in taking matters into their own hands, but after considerable lobbying the government gave the bill serious consideration. It was given First Reading as Bill 75 in June 2002, the other readings followed quickly, and Royal Assent in early July.

The new law (it comes into effect on January 1, 2003) is similar to legislation seen in other provinces. Cities are given broad ability to address local issues and they are free from the minutia of provincial tinkering by being given "natural person" powers. Reflecting initiatives in other legislation, the bill sets out procedures for public notification. (It is curious how much attention provincial legislators pay to public notification and involvement at the local level when is sorely lacking at the provincial and federal levels.)

Several of the more interesting provisions in Bill 75 are:

1. Section 6 states that "the power of a city to pass bylaws is to be interpreted broadly for the purposes of (i) providing a broad authority and respecting the Council's right to govern the city in whatever manner the council considers appropriate . . . and (ii) enhancing the council's ability to respond to present and future issues in the city."
2. Section 8 lists areas in which the city has "a general power to pass by-laws for city purposes that it considers expedient." Interestingly, two broad catch-all areas are included: "peace, order and good government of the city;" and "the safety, health and welfare of the people and the protection of people and property." These sections seem sufficiently broad to justify fairly wide powers, and might be considered the serious attempt of municipal governments in Saskatchewan to gain much broader powers of self-management.

It is impressive that a group of municipalities takes the initiative to draft the legislation they need rather than wait for the provincial action. The mayors in Saskatchewan are now ready to move on to the second phase of their agenda which Ms. Dust explains "is to obtain adequate stable funding for the long term." One expects this to be a somewhat more difficult fight.

The final version of The Cities Act is found at http://www.legassembly.sk.ca Click on "Progress of Bills" and go to Bill 75.

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