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Phil Tank

Phil Tank

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

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Phil Tank: Sask. teachers caved in 2020 deal on class size, complexity

Saskatchewan teachers abandoned their demand to include class size and complexity in a contract four years ago amid a public health crisis.

previous day 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon city council opts to save $1.5M a year ... maybe

Five Saskatoon councillors vote against a plan for city hall to build and operate its own composting facility, despite lower cost estimates.

tuesday 20

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Debate on Saskatoon cycling safety undergoes radical shift

Saskatoon city hall is now focused on how to improve safety for cyclists, instead of whether such measures represent irresponsible spending.

27.04.2024 20

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatchewan's rising suicides must be viewed as a crisis

Saskatchewan set a new record for suicides in one year in 2022 with 243 so far, while a report from the coroners service aims for insight.

24.04.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Unlike in 2020, turnover looms for Saskatoon city council

With two councillors and Mayor Charlie Clark stepping aside, a geyser of change looms for Saskatoon city hall in this year's election.

23.04.2024 20

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon council hopefuls may be putting campaigns at risk

Saskatoon city council candidates get a reminder on campaign spending rules, which mostly prohibit expenditures prior to June 1.

20.04.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Manitoba schools Saskatchewan in providing inflation relief

Saskatchewan links its inflation rate to its carbon tax protest, but Manitoba managed a lower inflation rate after suspending its gas tax.

18.04.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Carbon pricing debate feels like Brexit moment for Canada

Carbon pricing is difficult to understand and even tougher to explain, so Canada's ongoing debate has been distilled into simple slogans.

10.04.2024 7

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Heidt of hypocrisy left costly Saskatoon city hall legacy

Former Saskatoon councillor Myles Heidt appears to be involved in a shadowy online effort to influence this year's city council election.

09.04.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Secretive Saskatoon election website has Sask. Party links

A website promoting change at Saskatoon city hall was registered by a Calgary man who previously worked as a Saskatchewan Party adviser.

06.04.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Sask. Party gets an unlikely ally in key Saskatoon race

Saskatchewan Green Party Leader Naomi Hunter plans to run in Saskatoon Riversdale in the coming election and could play spoiler.

03.04.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Deadly Sask. stats drive mandatory impaired motorist tests

Even though distracted driving is a more widespread issue in Saskatchewan, impaired driving is claiming more than twice as many lives.

30.03.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Sask. plans irrigation from depleted Diefenbaker watershed

Saskatchewan's plan for a multi-billion-dollar irrigation system proceeds while climate change hinders the critical watershed it needs.

27.03.2024 6

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Some in Sask. still paying carbon tax to heat their homes

Those living in condominiums in Saskatchewan may be denied the carbon tax exemption because their accounts are classified as commercial.

20.03.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Kirton's exit could signal big shift for Saskatoon council

Saskatoon Coun. David Kirton says the a provincial homeless shelter in his ward contributed to his decision to leave after one term.

19.03.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon election group linked to 2020 Sask. Party hopeful

Saskatchewan Party candidate Rylund Hunter incorporated a company that is listed on an anonymous provocative website on Saskatoon city hall.

14.03.2024 4

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Potential peril awaits Sask. NDP in its election platform

With polls suggesting a competitive election lies ahead in Saskatchewan, there's a lot riding on the NDP's campaign platform and policies.

13.03.2024 8

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon still waiting for better idea than arena district

Opponents to a new downtown Saskatoon arena district have yet to articulate a better option other than letting SaskTel Centre deteriorate.

12.03.2024 4

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Tax relief tempting with Saskatoon's $10-million surplus

Saskatoon finished last year with a surplus of nearly $10 million and council must balance prudence and popularity in spending it.

05.03.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon shelters restricted as homeless crisis deepens

Saskatoon council effectively prevented a provincial shelter from opening, but also heard a dire account of how homelessness is increasing.

02.03.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Oil-and-gas-lighting, Saskatchewan style, continues on cap

The timing and the accuracy of Saskatchewan's response to a federal plan to cap oil and gas emissions raise some pertinent questions.

28.02.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon on pace to shatter record for homicides in a year

Saskatoon sustained five homicides this month, which puts the city on pace to surpass the existing mark for most unlawful deaths in a year.

27.02.2024 8

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Downtown arena district in Saskatoon now seems inevitable

An estimate that renovating SaskTel Centre arena would cost about $300 million might be low, based on upgrades to other similar facilities.

24.02.2024 8

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Sask. government lost the plot with shrug on affordability

The Saskatchewan Party's decline in popularity and the NDP's rise can be connected to the focus on affordability and the lack of relief.

21.02.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Gord Wyant faces stiff headwinds in a Saskatoon mayoral bid

The Saskatchewan Party cabinet minister is reportedly mulling a bid to be the first provincial politician to get elected Saskatoon mayor.

17.02.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Sask. Party has itself to blame for plummeting popularity

Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party government has managed to keep most right-wingers inside its tent, but its appeal to moderates is diminished.

14.02.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Addressing issues behind James Smith tragedy a massive task

Saskatchewan includes hundreds of reserves and dozens of First Nations with communities facing the same issues that fuelled the massacre.

07.02.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: You'll need $200K if you want to be Saskatoon's next mayor

You may not think it's fair, but successful Saskatoon mayoral candidates have spent about $200,000 on campaigns in the last two elections.

03.02.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Immigration shift spells doom for Sask. Party growth myth

The Saskatchewan Party has relied on touting growth under its rule, but conservative voters are souring on the immigration driving growth.

31.01.2024 4

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Downtown Saskatoon library project outlasts another leader

The surprise resignation of Saskatoon Public Library CEO Carol Cooley comes at a crucial time in the long journey to a new downtown branch.

30.01.2024 4

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Clark makes rare exit as Saskatoon mayor on his own terms

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark's emotional tribute to his family shows the cost of political leadership in an era of nasty and toxic debate.

26.01.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Sask. mass stabbing inquest reveals overwhelming issues

The testimony at a Saskatchewan coroner's inquest into the mass stabbing on James Smith Cree Nation reveals many complex issues.

24.01.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Drug policy change comes as Sask. overdose deaths spike

Saskatchewan recorded an all-time high in drug toxicity deaths last year as it reinforces its focus on recovery from addiction to drugs.

23.01.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon should seek a private arena angel

Saskatoon should seek out private developers to gauge interest in building a new downtown arena the way Kelowna did 24 years ago.

20.01.2024 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Like carbon tax, Canada was once promised GST's demise

As Conservatives promise to axe the carbon tax, it's worth remembering the pledge to Canadians to eliminate the hated GST in the 1990s.

18.01.2024 6

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: One person could secure a rare victory at Saskatoon city hall

A Saskatoon woman seeking a limit on the number of pets allowed in a household reminds us how city hall and local democracy should work.

16.01.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Deadly winter brew's toll in Sask. may remain a mystery

Several factors, including the rise in homelessness and severe cold, could make this a deadlier winter for exposure deaths in Saskatchewan.

13.01.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Sask. students' scores plummet in math, reading, science

An international study that assesses 15-year-old students shows Saskatchewan's education system is declining in quality in three key areas.

10.01.2024 8

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Regina, Saskatoon councils face year of political reckoning

Saskatoon enters an election year with a six per cent tax increase and Regina endured a tumultuous and sometimes embarrassing year in 2023.

06.01.2024 8

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: A more moderate Moe may emerge in Saskatchewan in 2024

The once-dominant Saskatchewan Party could consider a spring election as a strategy to halt momentum by the province's opposition parties.

03.01.2024 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: A Christmas Carol-inspired look at Saskatchewan politics

Saskatchewan's political landscape is seen through the lens of Charles Dickens' classic tale of redemption and reflection at Christmas time.

21.12.2023 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon council set to exploit unpopular Sask. Party

Saskatoon city council seems to sense the dive in popularity in the city of the provincial government and is poised to capitalize on it.

19.12.2023 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Exodus of key leaders continues at Saskatoon city hall

Saskatoon's fire chief and its police chief are retiring amid a homeless crisis, and Mayor Charlie Clark may decide against running again.

16.12.2023 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Trudeau may now regret his broken electoral reform promise

The plummeting poll numbers for Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals might not seem as dire if Canada had adopted a new voting system.

14.12.2023 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Deaths cast dark shadow on Saskatoon's new bike lane battle

Saskatoon city hall is pitching a handful of new bikeways with lower speed limits, combining two of the city's most controversial issues.

12.12.2023 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Moe banks on distraction to avoid real Saskatchewan issues

Saskatchewan's carbon tax fight took attention away from the government's bungled budget and a substantial decline in life expectancy.

06.12.2023 9

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon's oblivious budget sets stage for next election

After a record four days Saskatoon city council delivered a six per cent property tax increase with an election looming in less than a year.

05.12.2023 7

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatoon city budget debate shows deeply flawed process

Saskatoon city hall budget talks bled into a fourth day with what many will see as very little progress in reducing property tax hikes.

02.12.2023 10

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Overheard at the Sask. pavilion at the COP28 conference ...

Saskatchewan is sending a delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference; here's a possible conversation at its pavilion.

30.11.2023 5

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

Phil Tank: Saskatchewan's government fails to see fiscal warning signs

Saskatchewan finds itself in deficit yet again, but it appears to have ignored warning signs about drought and the volatile potash industry.

29.11.2023 7

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Phil Tank

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