MOOSE JAW — City council declined to give the Moose Jaw Humane Society extra funding this year to cover wage and expense increases and wants to reopen the fee-for-service contract to address that issue.
During a 2025 budget meeting, council discussed whether to approve the animal organization’s request for an extra $15,046 as part of a larger conversation about providing additional money to other third-party groups.
In the end, council voted:
- 6-1 to give the Cosmo Senior Citizens Association an extra $30,000; Coun. Dawn Luhning was opposed
- 7-0 to deny giving the Humane Society an extra $15,046
- 5-2 to give the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery an extra $2,299; opposed were Coun. Jamey Logan and Luhning
- 6-1 to give the Downtown Moose Jaw Association an extra $26,790; Luhning was opposed
- 6-1 to give the Moose Jaw Municipal Airport Authority an extra $25,000; Luhning was opposed
Luhning said that while the groups have good initiatives, she didn’t want to give them extra increases since they would demand the same thing next year.
Meanwhile, including the police service, council approved giving all other third-party groups the funding they had requested in November.
Animal funding
Coun. Heather Eby said she wanted the opportunity this year to review the contract with the Humane Society, because if the organization was short this much money, council needed to address that.
Administration replied that the community services department had flagged this issue in its work plans since it needed to update language in the bylaws governing this organization. Furthermore, the contract isn’t expected to expire until the 2030s, while reviews are supposed to happen every five years — however, that didn’t happen in 2022.
“The fact (the contract) wasn’t renegotiated in 2022, we’re kind of both at fault for that,” said Coun. Jamey Logan.
Administration noted that third-party groups that overspend must cover that overage since they are independent organizations. If the Humane Society had a deficit, it’s not the city’s normal practice to cover that overage.
Coun. Patrick Boyle pointed out that council isn’t against the Humane Society, it simply doesn’t want to provide more funding until it renegotiates the contract.
Seniors’ funding
Eby pointed out that the Cosmo seniors’ group wants $30,000 extra to install two new furnaces, something she supported since the association is always fundraising and supporting the community.
Coun. Chris Warren agreed, saying the city owns that building and new furnaces are “supercritical” to the venue since it’s a busy place.
Logan was concerned that there was no mechanism to ensure the association spent the money on upgrading the boilers and not something else. His preference was to specify that the group must use the funding for capital upgrades and nothing else.
Eby agreed, but said council could ask Cosmo leadership how it spent the money during 2026 budget discussions, a sentiment that Mayor James Murdock echoed.
“These are reputable people. I trust them. They have a lot on the line here,” he said. “They say the money is for the (heating and cooling system) and I believe that.”
Administration later said it would send a letter to the seniors’ group stipulating how it should use the money.
