Mayor Cynthia Block: Breaking barriers, building trust in Saskatoon
Cynthia Block, a former journalist and news anchor, was elected as the mayor of Saskatoon on Nov. 13, 2024, becoming the city’s first female mayor. Photo: Cynthia Block
The role of mayor can seem daunting to those unfamiliar with the daily functions of a municipality. Mind you, this isn’t the case for Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block, who spent most of her adult life preparing to take her seat behind the mayor’s desk.
OK, one of the first things she did was change the actual chair behind the mayor’s desk. But even so, for the first woman to serve as mayor in the city’s 143-year history, things have unfolded just about as well as she could have hoped.
Block is used to firsts. Before her mayoral role, or her eight years on Saskatoon city council, Block’s background in journalism led her to becoming the first 6 p.m. news anchor for CTV News Saskatoon. Block – who grew up on a farm outside Saskatoon – also spent 12 years at CTV. She then spent another couple of decades doing media and communications work in the city.
“In so many ways, it has been very smooth from the sense that I’ve had eight years on council. I’ve been a student of how things happen in our city,” Block said. “But you can’t believe how much there is to do, and that you’re responsible for. It is a lot more to be someone who is responsible to be part of a team leading a city if you don’t understand it.”
Clear and Transparent Connection
Her role as a councillor, including serving as the council’s strategic lead for downtown development, and her active engagement with service providers and people experiencing homelessness have always been central to how she approached her role.
This could be why she feels like the transition to mayor “has been super seamless.” There is a lot more public speaking, and Block said she may have had some nerves about that. Even for somebody who’s been reasonably comfortable speaking in public, which she certainly has had to be through her previous jobs, being mayor adds a heavy layer of responsibility.
Block said she wants people in the community to know that she sees them, she values them, and that they matter.
Block said that after everything Saskatoon has endured in recent years – from COVID-19 and hyperinflation to an ongoing opioid epidemic intertwined with homelessness, housing struggles, and an affordability crisis – she is focused on finding ways to help people “calm down a bit.”
Social media, she said, is no help. As Block said, “We all sort of went down that rabbit hole during COVID.”
In a nutshell, Block said she is trying to move forward in a way that is clear and transparent about what the city is doing.
“People need to see themselves in what we are doing as a city so that they can start to have a bit more trust and confidence in the world around them,” Block said. “Of course, this comes at a time when the world around us is anything but calm and certain.”
Representation in the Mayor’s Seat
During her mayoral campaign, Block said she made a big deal out of her hope that people weren’t voting for her simply because she is a woman. But that said, she has increasingly recognized a different perspective.
Representation matters, absolutely. But voters also had to consider if she was qualified for the job and whether their values aligned with the direction she wants to move Saskatoon. Those must be foundational questions in any democracy, she said, regardless of who is sitting in the mayor’s seat.
Still, it’s not lost on her that Saskatoon is some 142 years old and not once in that time was a woman elected as mayor. And, Block said, there have been many woman who have run.
As such, Block said there are two conclusion that can be made.
“Either women aren’t good enough or we have a systemic problem. And we are learning a lot about systems and the challenges when you’re inside a system and not being able to see things from the outside of that system,” she said. “I’m very proud and honoured to have this role and to be able to hopefully speak effectively to why representation matters in all walks of leadership and for all people.”
Facing the Housing Crisis
Block has only been mayor for some five months. But in that time, she has already met with colleagues from across the country to discuss the challenges they all face. The piece around homelessness and housing is enormous, she said. Municipal leaders, she added, are completely aligned on that being “the major issue of our time.”
Council has approved 756 affordable housing units for Saskatoon under the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). This is a move that Block applauds as being a huge positive for the city. And should the HAF continue past this next federal election, or some version of it, Block said even more will be done.
At the same time, there is the whole tariff situation that has pivoted the national conversation. It’s a situation Block said is “very concerning,” whether a given community has a connection to the auto sector or not.
Block noted that a key reason for this struggle – while acknowledging that she is not alone in expressing this – is that relying on property tax as the primary tool to fund municipalities is unsustainable.
But neither is the old calls that officials need to run their municipalities like a business. You can’t make money building swimming pools. You can’t make money running a public transit system. You can’t make money on a whole lot of things that municipalities need.
“Housing is the way out. And for all the other issues out there that are contributing to what we’re seeing on our streets today, it doesn’t mean they can’t be housed,” Block said. “You can have addiction, trauma, mental health issues, and still be safely housed. This is the fight of time, and our council has been working urgently since the day we got elected.”
Impact of Being Mayor
Being the mayor carries with it a lot of responsibility. Even so, Block is quick to say just how much she loves the job.
She said being mayor has made her feel “more humble and more responsible.” Her focus is on ensuring that her leadership and the city’s achievements are never about her.
Block said people treat her differently as the mayor. That reality is one piece she acknowledges she didn’t fully understand or realize was happening. Block recalls attending numerous events with former mayor Charlie Clark and so she thought she knew how it would be. She didn’t.
When the mayor shows up to a community event, Block said, people feel seen. That reality is something she sees as her responsibility – to lift people up, to try and help solve their problems. But she also doesn’t believe she can do this alone.
This is why Block said she has always considered herself to be a team person. It is a perspective she says has served her well. After all, it’s important that, as a leader in any situation, nobody sits there thinking they’ve got all the answers.
“The thing that being the mayor has changed for me is, I’d say, a reawakening of the understanding of what it means to serve,” Block said. “I know, when we roll up our sleeves, what we can achieve when we decide to do it together. I am encouraged by that.” MW
✯ Municipal World Executive and Essentials Plus Members: You might also be interested in Jeff Fielding and Dr. Kate Graham’s article: Challenging times call for proactive strategies.
Sean Meyer is digital content editor for Municipal World.
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