Group rallies in support of Meewasin

A rally was held Wednesday morning in Gabriel Dumont Park by a group urging the province to maintain its funding for the Meewasin Valley Authority (MVA).
 
The MVA was set up in 1979 as a partnership between the City of Saskatoon, University of Saskatchewan and the provincial government to jointly manage Saskatoon’s river valley. 
 
In its 2016 budget, the province indicated it was going to review that arrangement.
 
Speaking to about 60 people who gathered for the rally, organizer Lorna Shaw-Lennox said she is concerned the province may already have its mind made up to pull funding — and urged people to contact their MLAs and to sign an online petition in support of the MVA, as part of a campaign dubbed Keep Meewasin Vital.
 
She noted that the U of S contribution to the MVA could also be in jeopardy.
 
“If the province pulls their funding out, that also means the university pulls out, because the university’s money is a flow-through,” she said.
 
Clay Sparks, co-founder of Breathe bike shop and yoga studio, said he doesn’t want to see Saskatoon become a city where private development blocks people’s access to the riverbank.
 
“The riverbank, and access to it, and the trails and being able to be out on it and it not be falling apart is a huge, huge concern for business, (and) for everyone in Saskatoon,” he said.
 
Randy Fernets, director of industry development and sports tourism with Tourism Saskatoon came to the rally to show his organization’s support for the MVA. He said the Meewasin Trail and the riverbank are often the difference that helps him lure conventions and sporting events away from other cities.
 
“We’re not a big end destination — we don’t have skiing right? We don’t have monumental things that can attract people. But we look at Meewasin as one of those huge assets for us to use in that attraction,” he said.