The status quo is no longer acceptable for the City of Moose Jaw and changes are needed to ensure the community thrives in the future, Mayor Clive Tolley says.
“We have been stuck in and around the same population for over a hundred years and our costs keep going up every year and our income has to expand to address that need. So, we’ve got to grow our community,” the new mayor said while giving his inaugural address during the Nov. 8 regular meeting.
With the members of city councillors and city administration, along with residents, Tolley said he wanted to help build the community for the future. He praised Moose Jaw’s police and fire departments and the municipality’s employees for their great work, while he commended the finance director and his team for putting the community “in a great financial position” because of the investments made over the last few years.
“But we, as a community, need to grow,” he said.
Tolley recently visited SaskPower’s Great Plains Power Station in the agri-food industrial park and thought the project was an impressive undertaking. He also thought there was plenty of opportunity for further development in that park.
Practical solutions are needed to address the problems the community faces, Tolley remarked. Since he has been a booster for the community all his life, he wanted to continue that spirit as mayor in finding those solutions.
He noted that he would attempt to provide leadership on economic development, while he hoped that councillors and city hall directors would encourage more businesses to migrate here.
More than seven million people have been born in Saskatchewan and live elsewhere in Canada, including teenagers, who have gone elsewhere after graduation looking for better employment opportunities, Tolley continued. He thought this needed to change.
“In order to keep them here, we must have good jobs for them,” he said. “And we’re not going to be able to do that just with the rate of having families in this city. We’ve got to welcome immigration.
“Currently, we’re now very much a multicultural community and we need to encourage that and encourage immigration to help build our city and make these people feel welcome.”
Tolley’s grandparents immigrated from Scotland and settled near, and then in, Moose Jaw. Their daughter met a British airman during the Second World War and, after they were married, the airman moved to Canada once the war was over. This produced Tolley, a first-generation Canadian.
Tolley’s father was a prisoner in Burma during the war and came home rail-thin because of starvation. He lived a shorter life than others because of the health complications he faced. Meanwhile, Tolley’s grandfather served in the trenches in Europe during the First World War and was gassed, contracted tuberculosis, cancer, and later died an early death.
“I’m getting a little bit emotional here because these people paved the way for us to have what we have today. They both gave their lives ultimately at a younger age while others died in battle,” said Tolley.
Tolley compared city council to a hockey team, while he was the new coach coming in mid-season after the previous coach was promoted. He asked councillors for their patience and support, noting he hoped they helped him when he made mistakes early on.
“I think we have strong team. Moving together, I think we can have a great future and a shared vision for the City of Moose Jaw,” he added.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Nov. 22
