Saskatoon Tribal Council’s Tribal Chief is commending city council for penalizing a councilor following comments he made earlier this month. 

During the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association Convention in Saskatoon several weeks ago, Ward 3 Councilor Robert Pearce accused the Saskatoon Tribal Council of operating the Fairhaven Emergency Wellness Centre poorly. Pearce then asked Premier Scott Moe to consider replacing the operator and cut down the number of beds in the shelter. 

Since then, Pearce was removed from the city’s sub-committee on homelessness and replaced with Mayor Cynthia Block. 

STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand publicly thanked city council for its support at the STC office on Thursday. 

“I wish Mr. Pearce all the best. I think he’s got to take some responsibility and some ownership. If he wants to have a decent conversation with me, I am always open to that.”

Arcand admits that Pearce tried to call him on the same evening he made the comments, but he didn’t answer the call and says he has no intentions of calling him back at this point. 

“I think this is just escalating to a point where he doesn’t want to take responsibility. If he’s got his own personal views of how he’s looking at this through his own lens, that’s on him.”