Wallace Insights, a husband-and-wife consultant team out of Saskatoon with a combined 70 years of experience, presented a City of Moose Jaw community analysis at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast event — to mixed reactions from attendees.
The event was held at the Moose Jaw Shrine Club and organized by the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce. About 40 guests showed up to hear from Wallace Insights, review displays with City statistics, and enjoy pancakes, bacon, and sausages.
Brenda and Alan Wallace have developed action plans for communities, businesses, and municipalities across the Prairies, including the cities of Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Candle Lake, and La Ronge. They are known for their comprehensive analyses, which include guidelines to help clients navigate, understand, and/or draft legislation for whatever strategy they are pursuing.
“I’ve been in planning and development for 39 years,” Alan Wallace said. “I’ve seen official community plans (OCPs) come and go. I’ve seen good ones, and some not-so-good ones.
“An OCP is an important document. The official part of it is that it’s adopted as law, so it’s actually a by-law, it’s not a ‘study.’ … City Council can adopt it and amend it, but they really shouldn’t ignore it. … It’s also adopted and endorsed by the Ministry (of Government Relations).”
Under Saskatchewan legislation, OCPs must be developed in consultation with a professional community planner and submitted for approval to the province — that’s the official part of it that gives it legitimacy and power, Wallace explained. In cases of conflict between zoning by-laws and the OCP, for example, the OCP would take precedence.
The plan must be a long-term vision, he continued, with about a 10- to 15-year lifespan before the OCP should be reviewed and revised.
The City of Moose Jaw OCP currently being updated was issued in 2002.
The provincial OCP legislation also requires that an OCP identify policies addressing:
- sustainable current and future land use and development in the municipality;
- current and future economic development;
- the general provision of public works;
- the management of lands that are subject to natural hazards including, flooding, slope and instability;
- the management of environmentally sensitive lands;
- the co-ordination of land use, future growth patterns and public works with adjacent municipalities;
- source water protection;
- implementation of the OCP;
- the provision of municipal reserve for school purposes; and
- the management of lands that are in proximity to existing or proposed railway operations.
Wallace explained to attendees that the plan they are developing in consultation with City Hall, local businesses, and the public at large focuses on practicality, efficiency, and a proactive pragmatism.
In other words, it needs to work rather than just look good on paper.
The Wallaces explained that urban planning and development in Canada and worldwide is focusing on:
- integrating green spaces;
- making walking, biking, and public transit more accessible and reducing reliance on private transportation;
- integrating different demographics rather than allowing populations to segregate by income, ethnicity, career sector, age, or other common factors;
- proactively maintaining and upgrading infrastructure to prevent future utility bottlenecks in planning and development;
- increasing urban density to better support shopping districts, increase community closeness, and provide access to services.
Following the presentation, guests thanked the Wallaces for the data and information, but raised concerns about the strategic changes being proposed.
How will the new shelter affect businesses?
Some attendees were concerned about the new shelter being developed by Square One Community, Inc. in the old firehall.
“Nobody wants shelters,” Alan Wallace replied. “That’s the ‘Not In My Backyard,’ (NIMBY) mentality. … Nobody wants them, but we have to have them.”
Brenda Wallace explained that locating homeless shelters and services downtown has been shown to be the most common sense, cost-effective solution to the issue. She encouraged attendees to look into Housing First principles and listed examples of major cities that have tried and failed to relocate their homeless populations. Unhoused people return to downtown cores because of the concentration of services and ease of access.
The guests raising the issue were unconvinced.
Won’t Council just drop the ball?
“Isn’t this all moot,” one attendee asked, “until we start getting development and getting jobs here and start getting people to come here? … I understand what you’re trying to do, but in my opinion this is sort of a waste of money for the City when we don’t have new jobs and new construction coming.”
The resident said that City Council had turned down major developments recently, and they thought it was pointless to talk about an OCP unless the City is “open for business.”
“That’s the reaction part of looking at those developments,” Brenda Wallace said. “There’s also the part that’s proactive. Investment wants as much certainty as possible … without a plan that’s helping to focus where infrastructure investment goes, you’re not ready for investment.”
Wallace explained that planning for robust infrastructure reduces the uncertainty developers feel about investing. If a business has reassurance from City Administration that their needs for water, power, road and rail access, worker housing, et cetera, have been planned for and can be met without problems, she said, that significantly increases Moose Jaw’s competitiveness for major projects.
“Our city won’t get prepared,” the attendee responded. “Even if you do a pilot for this and get it set up, our council won’t change its mindset.”
The Westheath School
“For many cities, schools are intended to be focal points for neighbourhoods,” Alan Wallace said. “It’s a little more difficult to do that when you close four neighbourhood schools and consolidate them.”
Wallace acknowledged that the Westheath development was a good example of moving against the data and not future-proofing. He said the decision was provincial and driven by cost rather than what was good for students.
“The dollars come from the province,” he added. “It’s a Ministry of Education directive to make (Saskatchewan schools) bigger and less central.”
A guest spoke up to point out the City’s current OCP guidelines oppose the Westheath development.
“The municipal Council has made the decision to acquiesce to the province’s choice to disregard the current OCP,” they said. “What’s the expectation that any change in the OCP is actually going to be adopted, implemented, and enforced long-term?”
All we can do is provide the data, the Wallaces noted — ultimately, Moose Jaw’s civil politics are up to voters.
