How convenient, my political studies class will be discussing this issue in the coming days. Things to consider...
787!!!! I may be ignorant of the issues, but, one would think many of these municipalities could amalgamate, thereby reducing costs and improving the delivery of services. We shall see.
As I understand it, there is no difference between town and city status, as far as taxes and operations are concerned. City status is a symbol, category, which suggests the relevancy, or value of a place (as much as society assigns value to it...). Is population the defining characteristic of a city? In the grand scheme of things, no.
As newflyer stated, becoming a city is more than achieving an arbitrarily set population threshold. Educational and cultural institutions, transportation networks, amenities, services, spatial arrangement of the urban landscape, history, etc. A city is a complex thing, that is: many different people, doing many different things. Within Saskatchewan, how do Meadow Lake, Martensville, and many other towns stack up against the provinces larger, more dominant cities?
The threshold set by the province should reflect the importance of our cities, the roles they play in the provincial economy, and in shaping the provincial identity.
Martensville is a bedroom community (e.g. exurb) of Saskatoon, nothing more. Although, a change in status may persuade Martensville residents to behave differently, more city-like (denser development
). Perhaps in the future they will be more receptive to amalgamation with Saskatoon? Perhaps less.
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The opinion of a Meadow Lake resident...
U-turn on the road to city status
Posted 17 days ago
Years have gone by and again and again Meadow Lake has talked about applying for city status. Now it's finally happening, but the big question remains, is this town ready to become a city?
Back in 2006 council was ready to apply, but the census revealed that the population was just short of the required 5,000, sitting at 4,900. Now, three years later, they hope that the town has grown large enough.
But really, if we're still concerned whether or not we've added a couple hundred people in the last few years, is a move to city status warranted? Meadow Lake isn't experiencing a population explosion, and there's no guarantee that we won't fall even lower in the next few years.
Of course once we have city status the province won't take that away, but we'll end up calling ourselves a city smaller than some of the provinces towns.
There is a lot of good that can come from becoming a city, and federal funding might help bolster Meadow Lake into something bigger, but right now it still maintains that small town feel.
There's only one traffic light in town, no need for any bus routes, and few major retail chains. A city is meant to act as a hub for people, so what kind of city requires you to drive to Saskatoon, Prince Albert or North Battleford to get some good shopping done?
Maybe this is an attitude adopted by a big city kid like me, raised in Calgary all his life, but these are the traits I look for when I think city.
I could be wrong, becoming a city might be the greatest thing to ever happen to Meadow Lake, but personally, after living here for a few weeks, I like it the way it is.
AC
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Meadow Lake granted city status
Change to be made official in November
James Wood, The Star Phoenix
Published: Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Meadow Lake is set to become Saskatchewan's 14th city and Martensville is likely to soon follow.
The province announced Monday that Meadow Lake, located about 300 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, would be granted city status even though it fell short of the necessary 5,000 population in the 2006 census.
But the government and town officials said other counts -- including the approximate 6,500 health cards in the town -- indicate its population is now much higher than the 4,771 census figure.
The change will become official following the Nov. 9 Meadow Lake council meeting, the first after the municipal election, and fulfils a long-standing goal of the town.
The status change does not affect the municipality's funding from the province and has only a limited effect on the town's administrative functions.
But Mayor Darwin Obrigewitsch said it was a "move forward" for both the community and region and will help in pitching the merits of Meadow Lake as it tries to attract industry and professionals such as doctors.
"What does 'city' mean? It all depends on what you want it to mean," he said in a telephone interview.
That point was echoed by Premier Brad Wall, who announced the change in Meadow Lake.
"It's a psychological thing. I think it's important from a branding standpoint for communities," he said.
Wall said a second town -- which he declined to name -- would also likely be granted city status this year in a "historic . . .sign of growth" for Saskatchewan.
In July, Martensville announced its intention to seek city status. It was actually larger than Meadow Lake in the most recent census, with a population of 4,968.
Town manager Scott Blevins said one of the benefits of becoming a city is that Martensville would become part of the caucus of city mayors, which represents 80 per cent of the province's population.
"You have a voice, you sometimes have a heads-up on what's going on," he said.
There are also opportunities for smaller communities to benefit from work done by larger cities, such as when Saskatoon or Regina does legal work or creates position papers relating to issues that affect cities, said Blevins.
In the 2006 census, both Martensville and Meadow Lake, as well as Warman and Kindersley, were bigger than Melville, which retains city status despite a population that fell to 4,149 three years ago.
University of Saskatchewan political studies Prof. Joe Garcea said there could be a debate on the relatively low population threshold used for city status in Saskatchewan.
If there is little difference between cities and towns in autonomy and authority, then the designation has no real meaning beyond the prestige it gives a community, he said.
"In the national or international context, city denotes a larger community with a certain kind of infrastructure and a certain critical mass of people to do things," said Garcea.
"A province and municipalities have to think very carefully about what they designate as a city. On the one hand, they do want to try and maximize the status of as many communities as possible. On the other hand, if the national or international community is looking closely and seeing very small communities designated as cities, they may not take the classification very seriously."
Wall said his Saskatchewan Party government isn't interested in changing the 5,000 threshold.
Wall was accompanied Monday by Municipal Affairs Minister Jeremy Harrison, who is also the MLA for Meadow Lake.
He won the constituency by a mere 17 votes in the 2007 election and was appointed to cabinet in May.
Wall said there were no political considerations in the change of status for Meadow Lake happening under Harrison's watch.
Saskatchewan's current cities are Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Yorkton, North Battleford, Melville, Melfort, Weyburn, Estevan, Lloydminster, Swift Current and Humboldt, the most recent to gain city status in 2000.
jwood@sp.canwest.com
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