Premier Scott Moe, along with Provincial Ministers and Mayor Charlie Clark met Monday, to highlight where dollars from the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) are being allocated. Saskatoon is getting $35 million.

Premier Moe says MEEP funding will give a boost to projects that are shovel ready, improving services and create jobs. Moe says Saskatoon is making some sensible investments that will improve the quality of life in the community. Moe says over 75% of Saskatoon’s MEEP funding (over $27 million) is targeted towards road paving. He calls this good basic infrastructure, the kind of investment residents are looking for. Moe adds that $3.3 million will go to neighborhood traffic safety upgrades, $2.5 million to roadside safety improvements, $2 million will be committed to a downtown festival site and a $570,000 towards sidewalk rehabilitation. Moe called these all very valuable initiatives.

Moe was asked if there was concern with having to pick up the slack for municipalities, he responded by reiterating this year is unprecedented. Moe says what the province is attempting to do with the MEEP funding, is support municipal governments, as they are the level of government that is closest to the front door of people’s houses. Moe says municipal governments know where the immediate pressures are and the government wants to try to make sure there was a reasonable level of funding throughout the response to the pandemic. The Premier says they will need to have an eye on being accountable, for where the dollars are being provided, where the investments are provided, and focus needs to be on achieving the outcomes MEEP intended to achieve. Moe suggests that at sometime these dollars will need to be paid back, as they are loan dollars, loaned on behalf of Canadians at the Federal, provincial and municipal level.

The $150 million MEEP was announced in May and is part of the province’s $7.5 billion 2 year capital plan.

(BDJ – Sept 14, 2020)