Saskatoon councillor responds to reprimand over statements on STC shelter

WATCH: A city councillor is being removed from a new subcommittee on homelessness following recent public comments opposing a local shelter operator.

A Saskatoon councillor removed from a homelessness subcommittee last week after criticizing the operator of the city’s largest shelter is standing by his comments — though he says they could have been worded better.

Coun. Robert Pearce was expected to be appointed to the newly-formed subcommittee on homelessness on April 23. Instead, his fellow councillors opted to remove him from consideration in the interest of mending the relationship with the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC), which runs the 106-bed emergency shelter in Pearce’s ward.

The move came after Pearce asked Premier Scott Moe at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention to consider replacing the STC and cutting the size of the shelter. STC Chief Mark Arcand later said the comments “feel like an attack.”

In a letter shared with CTV News Tuesday evening, Pearce says he now understands picking a fight with the STC “would have created an optical impediment” to launching the homelessness committee “on a good foot.”

Pearce writes that he understands why he was reprimanded and accepts that.

But in his letter, he doubles down on his conviction and seems to shift blame to STC Chief Mark Arcand for not answering his call to apologize.

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“At the SUMA convention, I had the opportunity to pose a direct question to the provincial cabinet. This question was asked of my own volition, and did not reflect any position of council or city administration,” Pearce wrote.

“After learning that my question had raised offense for the STC, I immediately reached out to Tribal Chief Arcand personally, leaving a message apologizing, explaining how the question did not come out as intended, and that I desired to speak with him about it. Unfortunately, he did not return my call.”

Since then, Pearce says he’s received encouraging messages from people across the city “reminding me the threats and fears faced by those in Ward 3 are not abstract — they are a constant reality since the shelter opened.”

Pearce also lauds the Saskatchewan government’s decision to purchase the Lighthouse and install a new operator there — Alberta-based Christian non-profit the Mustard Seed, which also runs the new temporary downtown shelter.

Ultimately, Pearce says his allegiance lies with his neighbours in Ward 3.

“For the people of Ward 3 this is not politics or a game. It is our families, our life investments in our homes and community, and our very lives at literal risk. Everyday they question why they are expected to continue carrying a disproportionate burden of the homelessness and addictions crisis with no end in sight.”

Pearce also takes pains to explain his conspicuous absence from the meeting last week, where he was reprimanded by his colleagues.

He says he thought they would discuss the matter on May 13, during an in-camera meeting of the city’s governance and priorities committee, that he had a “couple of heavy unrelated personal issues” last week that kept him close to home, and he was having “technical issues” connecting to it remotely.

“After learning what transpired and considering all perspectives, I have come to see that my fellow councillors felt immense pressure to deal with this situation at council,” he said.

Pearce says he accepts that he created the situation and apologizes to council “and the city’s valued service partners for putting them in this position.”

“As such, I do believe despite how this decision came about, it is best for the city and myself.”