WEYBURN – The province’s economy, particularly in the southeast area, will possibly see a boom 2023, with the help of Saskatchewan’s industries, said Mayor Marcel Roy in a year-end interview.
After a visit to Agribition in November, the mayor said he had a “change of philosophy” as he talked with other leaders in the province, many telling him that industry is what drives the economy in Saskatchewan.
“They had a real good point – industry drives Saskatchewan’s economy. In Western Canada especially, industry really drives and we’re seeing it here,” he said, noting Saskatchewan is strong for grain, cattle, oil, potash and uranium, to name a few of the commodities. “They’re all saying there’s money to be made.”
He also pointed out that surveys on the best places to live consistently put Weyburn at the top of the list, and he’d like to maintain that position.
The survey he saw covered factors like the cost of living and the amenities available in the city.
“We consistently rank really high. As council and administration, we strive to make sure we have good infrastructure and are improving our facilities,” said Mayor Roy, adding the new hospital is set to be built, with construction to be starting in the next year.
Weyburn will also work on the intersection of Highways 13 and 39, with a large round-about to be built. Mayor Roy said initial work will be done in 2023, with the plan to likely have it built in 2024.
Meanwhile, they are working on other infrastructure, such as work on the new lift station by Tatagwa View, and the moving of power lines at the city landfill, both to be finished in 2023.
He noted that Souris School was torn down by the Cornerstone School Division, “and that’s a change for our landscape.”
Haig School had been demolished in the past year, and the City has bought the school grounds to develop it into park space for the city.
“We’re going to continue with our tree trimming program,” he added, and noted the city will be working on streets and sidewalks as well in the coming year.
Mayor Roy was happy the budget process has been completed, including getting public input along the way.
“We were respectful of people’s money and of people’s ideas. We had a lot of hard decisions to make, and I believe it all went well with a 4.9 per cent increase. It went as good as could be expected,” said the mayor.
He commented it would be nice to see more funds from the federal or provincial governments, but doesn’t think it’s very likely to happen.
With the budget done now, the administration will be drawing up requests for proposals (RFPs) for projects to be done, and he expects the city will be in a good position at the front of the line to get contractors lined up for 2023.
In past years, he said, the city would wait for the province to come down with their budget so they would see what money they would have available, but then the contractors were usually booked up and Weyburn would be at the back of the line.
“We’re ready to go,” he added.
Meantime, Mayor Roy said he thinks the province is entering a 10-year boom time that hasn’t been seen for a while here.
“The rest of the country might be falling apart, but because industry drives things, we are going to see a boom like we’ve never seen before,” said the mayor.
