Plan to develop urban national park in Saskatoon meets pushback from the swale watchers

Plan to develop urban national park in Saskatoon meets pushback from the swale watchers. Keenan Sorokan reports.

Not everyone is on board with Parks Canada and Meewasin’s plan to build a national urban park in the area.

New boundaries of the park sparked an outcry of opposition from environmental advocates at a city committee meeting Wednesday with the park now planned to remove areas of the Northeast and Small Swale.

“This boundary has been conceived behind closed doors and has never been formally presented to council or to the public,” Candace Savage, a co-chair with the Swale Watchers conservation group, said.

“No rationale has been provided for choosing some lands within the swale protected area, and excluding others.”

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The Meewasin Valley Authority and Parks Canada have been negotiating the creation of a national urban park running through Saskatoon for the last five years. The unique park under the national portfolio would be along the South Saskatchewan Riverbanks with boundaries drawn south of Beaver Creek, going northwards to an area northeast of Wanuskewin Heritage Park.

Councillors heard the national government is ready to fund the creation of the park with Meewasin running the daily operations. Parks Canada, Meewasin, the RM of Corman Park, the Saskatoon Tribal Council and other consulted groups have all endorsed the plans to proceed.

One of the final steps needed was an endorsement from City Hall, but the encroachment of the park boundary into the swale lands was a central point of contention.

“The swales are something we always recognized as a no-go zone for development,” Frank Long with the city’s land development branch said.

“We have no intention of doing any development within the swales. We’re going to use them in the way Mother Nature gave them to us.”

Council established new boundaries in 2023 to help move park discussions along. Savage and many others were surprised to learn with little notice the boundaries had suddenly changed with Wednesday’s proposal.

More than 80 people submitted comments or wanted to speak to the committee themselves to voice their displeasure with new lines drawn.

“In fact, the new boundaries would be worse than the worst options rejected by council in 2023,” Savage said.

The nature preserves are seen as considered ecologically sensitive areas and native prairie habitat. The Northeast and Small Swales are home to a number of threatened plant and animal species located near Aspen Ridge and Evergreen.

Questions to Meewasin and multiple members of administration about why the boundaries are changing led to repeated answers of administration following through on council’s 2023 decision. Administration said previous reporting made it clear the boundaries would be subject to change in the future as the city has planned neighbourhoods for development in areas adjacent to the swales.

“If we were to change the boundaries today to something different, it would set the project back and would require consultation to restart with the parties to and would potentially put our funding in jeopardy for the Parks Canada program for national urban parks,” City Solicitor Cindy Yelland said.

With Savage and others appreciative of an urban park but concerned about it affecting the swale, Meewasin leadership said there is no intention to harm the natural lands. Plans are for trails to run through those areas.

“I would say, as far as we’re concerned, broad strokes, there is no conflict. The Swale currently has trails going through it,” Meewasin CEO Mike Velonas said.

Councillors ultimately voted to proceed with the project. Where the boundaries are drawn will be subject to public engagement and a final vote before council sometime in 2027.