More than 70 local changemakers and stakeholders gathered at the Moose Jaw Events Centre on Dec. 15 for a full morning's discussion on addressing critical issues such as poverty, substance abuse, crime, violence, homelessness, and more.
Attendees included Mayor Clive Tolley; city manager Maryse Carmichael; Tim McLeod, MLA for Moose Jaw North and the provincial cabinet minister for Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors, and Rural and Remote Health; Deputy Police Chief Rick Johns; Corey McNeice, operations manager for Moose Jaw and District EMS; Jody Oakes, director of the Moose Jaw John Howard Society.
Many more groups attended, representing social services, the Moose Jaw Public Library, Wakamow Aboriginal Community Association, numerous downtown businesses and not-for-profits, and several individuals with lived experience.
The event, named the 'Community Caring Strategy, was jointly facilitated by Geoff Anderson from the Moose Jaw Co-op and Cheantelle Fisher from the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank. Anderson and Fisher wanted the meeting to result in tangible, specific goals, and led group discussions to brainstorm solutions, identify barriers, and raise awareness of the root causes of social issues.
"Change is needed in Moose Jaw, we have a lot of people suffering, and I think the entire community is suffering," Anderson said after the meeting.
In addition to his role at the Co-op, Anderson serves on the Transition House board, and as chair of the Downtown Moose Jaw Association. He's hoping his example will encourage other business leaders to step out of their bubbles and become involved in driving positive change in the city.
"I was very excited to meet with everybody in the community who considers this an extremely important cause," he said. "I felt we had real changemakers in the room here today, I thought that everyone spoke with empathy, and we explored ideas to change.
"This is just the first step, we have now developed an advisory committee that will be working to help support this community through tangible actions with quarterly meetings, and reporting back to the individuals in this room on progress. That's a key first step, but now we have to execute a strategic plan to help our community heal."
"I think it's amazing that we have over 70 people here today, and that shows how amazing this community is. We all came together with a common goal to do something to help," said Oakes.
Oakes, through her role at the John Howard Society, spends every day helping the least-fortunate of Moose Jaw's residents. She noted that she and her staff are expecting around 100 or more individuals at their upcoming Christmas lunch for the unhoused, and said many Moose Javians just don't know how many people are on the street struggling with food, shelter, and general poverty.
"I don't think this is a Moose Jaw thing. Everybody is struggling, we just have such a passionate community and such a caring community, that these things get talked about more and aren't as hidden. ...
"Really, I'm hearing people talk about awareness. Cannot have enough awareness, there were things talked about that some people just didn't know, and people weren't aware of some of the things in our community, but the more conversations like these we can have, the better."
Asked about the Sask Party government's work to address social issues, Minister McLeod told the Moose Jaw Express that social assistance programs are systems of last resort. He said his government's priority is to move people off those systems so they can be productive and healthy on their own.
McLeod pointed out that as part of his government's new approach to homelessness, they will create 155 new supportive housing spaces, 120 new permanent emergency shelter spaces, and 30 new complex needs emergency shelter spaces, as well as five hundred new addictions treatment spaces across the province.
McLeod also recalled last year's affordability payments, when the provincial government sent $500 cheques to approximately 900,000 residents 18 and older who had filed a tax return in 2021, around $450 million in total.
"I was happy to be here to participate, to listen to the concerns of the community as the representative for Moose Jaw North, and certainly a crucial part of my role is hearing from the community members," McLeod said.
"It was also a great opportunity to listen to the ideas that come from a grassroots level and take those back to my colleagues in Regina, and compare those to the information that they're receiving across the province, and see what we can do from a provincial approach to address these issues."
Steven Krupski is a Food Bank user who heard about the meeting while he was there and offered to attend to share lived experience. More than anything, Krupski said, he wants to see more awareness of how many people in Moose Jaw are hungry all the time, but also in the other direction — he thinks people on the front lines should also know that there are people trying to help them.
"The numbers don't lie and there are a lot of people suffering," he said. "I thought everybody worked together very well today, and the questions were on topic. I thought the whole meeting was well prepared. ... I would like to see more community awareness, like on the individual and household level, I think that's very important.
"They've got good ideas, and there's a committee they're going to be starting, so we're gonna see some action. I would just like to see some results, you know? Don't just talk about it, be about it."
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