Northern Leader Concerned With Census Figures

Northern Leader Concerned With Census Figures

Thursday, February 05, 2009 at 12:47

A village councillor from Buffalo Narrows raised the concern of how the census affects infrastructure funding during the “bear pit” session at the SUMA convention in Saskatoon yesterday.

Harley Hudson said the census numbers are flawed and underestimate how many people truly live in northern Saskatchewan.

He also said it’s a province-wide problem, and asked what the province could do about municipalities being “short-changed”.

Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Hutchinson says he recognizes the census can be a problem, saying some communities likely have experienced growth since the last one in 2006.

Hutchinson says the government is in the process of investigating possible alternatives — but until then, the census figures will determine infrastructure dollars.