Thinking about: homelessness in Saskatoon; why Notwithstanding is important; Carney gets the "Nobel Patience Prize"; what Canadians think about American fascism

Here's what I'm thinking about today:

Homelessness in Saskatoon 

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix has published three excellent articles this week about homelessness in our city. Reporter Brody Langager has really done a great job investigating the issue.

The growth of homelessness: Looking back at Saskatoon survey findings
A significant jump in the number of people facing homelessness was recorded in 2024.
In this article, Langager reports that the city, the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership and the Community-University Institute for Social Research at the University of Saskatchewan have been doing an annual fall homeless count since 2008. While there were 368 adults and 11 children counted in 2012, the number had risen to 464 adults and 11 children by 2018.

The 2022 point-in-time homeless count found 550 people were facing homelessness, with 26 of those being children (ages 0-12) and 84 of them youth (ages 13-24).
It said 90.1 per cent of respondents identified as Indigenous, and 54.8 per cent had experienced foster care....
A significant jump in the number of people facing homelessness was recorded in 2024, with 1,499 people unhoused. Out of that number, 315 were children and 175 were youth.
The report said 66.5 per cent of respondents used shelter spaces in the past year.
It said 64 per cent of those surveyed were chronically homeless, and 50.3 per cent said their first experience of homelessness was as an adult. It was noted that 67 per cent of respondents said they experienced violence while homeless.
A total of 80.7 per cent of respondents identified as Indigenous, 50.8 per cent said they had been in the foster care system, 60.8 per cent had been in Saskatoon for over five years, and 82.3 per cent faced substance use issues....

'The cracks aren't cracks, they're crevasses': Former teacher peers into homelessness in Saskatoon
"The people doing the work? First class. The system surrounding them? Not so much."
In this article, Langager followed a group of Saskatoon leaders participating in a "36 Hour Challenge" to live as a homeless person. 

The challenge takes leaders from the community, and puts them in the shoes of the city’s most vulnerable people for 36 hours. ...This year’s group included [retired teacher John] McGettigan, who is the chief development officer for Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, Mayor Cynthia Block, Saskatoon Police Chief Cam McBride, and Erika Ritchie, the MLA for Saskatoon Nutana.... 

The challenge started at 6 on a chilly and wet morning. Participants handed in everything except their phones, which were only used to track them or give live updates. They were given donated clothes, with many participants not able to find proper fitting shoes. 

McGettigan said he felt fine in the morning, but that likely wouldn’t remain the case. 

Checking in about seven hours later, McGettigan said he was angry and frustrated as he learned more about challenges the unhoused population and the organizations serving them were facing. 

He said he was met with kindness, and he worked with people who had expertise in areas like social services and addictions. 

 “There’s a lot of suffering.” ...

 He talked about the former student he ran into, saying this was someone who came from a good family, who was employed and educated. But their life fell apart in a short period of time. 

 “The addiction thing was now, from what I could tell just looking into his eyes, just seemed to be the driving force. That was his goal for every day.” ...

He had a meal at the Friendship Inn, saying there was a lot of dignity given to people who were served. He said children got food there as well, more than he expected on a school day. 

 He was later tasked with picking up a meal at the Saskatoon Food Bank. The people behind the counter served up a smile along with a small grocery bag of different food items. ... 

He said the mentality of “just get a job”, or “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” was wrong. 

... Sleeping arrangements for participants were announced at 7 p.m. Some people, like McGettigan and McBride, stayed in a shelter for the night. Other participants, like Block, had to find a place to sleep outside. 

 McBride was in a wheelchair as part of the challenge, and McGettigan needed to help him get on a bus to go to the Saskatoon Tribal Council Wellness Centre....

East side, west side: How Saskatoon's homeless dynamics shift from area to area
"Sometimes they just need a big hug."

...[assistant fire chief] Yvonne Raymer said about a quarter of the city, from downtown westward, has more people with problems around mental health and drug addiction.
“When we go outside that centralized area, for a lot of them its alcohol that they’re addicted to,” Raymer said.....
...every single neighbourhood in the city has unhoused people.
As the weather changes and Saskatoon gets colder, Raymer said people will survive in a number of different ways. “A few have indicated they went and accessed the warm-up centre. Some actually survived in the winter in different ways, and some went couch surfing.”
She said they know of a person in the city who opens his door in the winter to a few of his buddies who are unhoused....

Langager has also written stories recently on ideas for building a tiny home community, and on funding for security at public washrooms.

Why Notwithstanding is important 

Labour specialist Larry Hubich writes this thread:

These conservative Premiers have used the clause to carry out ideological attacks on the rights of citizens who they view as their enemies. Nothing more, nothing less. 2/4

— Larry Hubich 🇨🇦 (@LHubich) October 9, 2025

Recent and past uses of the clause by hard right provincial Premiers has demonstrated an acknowledgement that they know they’re guilty of violating human rights, but they want to hide behind a clause that was never intended to give them cover to punish vulnerable groups. 4/4

— Larry Hubich 🇨🇦 (@LHubich) October 9, 2025

Here is an excellent article that explains the Notwithstanding issue very clearly:
Dale Smith / Xtra*

The premiers violating your Charter rights don’t want the courts to weigh in
When it comes to the Notwithstanding Clause, premiers opposed to the federal government’s factum are showing their true colours
...Provincial governments are no longer waiting for a court decision before they invoke the clause, but rather they are invoking it pre-emptively in order to head off court challenges. That means that courts have not had the opportunity to weigh in on these laws at all before they are shielded from challenge, which the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal decided was not reasonable.
“Nothing in the remaining text or structure of the Charter, or the Constitution more generally, suggests that the idea of a legislative last word should be equated with a legislature having the only word on the issue of whether legislation limits Charter rights,” Saskatchewan Court of Appeal chief justice Robert Leurer wrote for the majority, emphasis his.
This is largely the federal government’s position in their factum at the Supreme Court, which has the task of determining the final outcome of the different interpretations between the Quebec and Saskatchewan Courts of Appeal. Some of the provinces, like Manitoba, also are taking the Saskatchewan Court’s side that courts should get to weigh in, because of the nature of the clause, and the democratic remedy that is available to voters when governments invoke it.
...Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario...don’t want to be told that they’re violating the rights of minorities, and vulnerable youth most especially when it comes to trans and gender-diverse youth in the cases of Saskatchewan and soon to be Alberta. It would be tremendously embarrassing for those premiers, and it exposes the fact that their arguments have been false, whether that’s Quebec insisting that they need to violate the rights of Muslim women and Sikhs to “protect state secularism,” or Danielle Smith’s bizarre belief that she is somehow protecting the future fertility of these gender-diverse youth whose rights she is violating (because she read up on puberty and considers herself an expert now. No, seriously)....

“Fraser said it would be "unimaginable" for a federal government to steer clear of a case affecting Charter rights that will have lasting impacts and suggested the premiers' argument is "untenable."” Hard agree.

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— Ghouly Hoye 🇨🇦 👻 (@hollyhoye.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 8:44 AM

Minister Fraser is 💯 correct. Canadians cannot lose their fundamental Charter Rights simply because of the province which they chose to call home. Extreme - and corrupt - provincial governments ARE trying to dismantle #Canada using the notwithstanding clause. Excerpt:

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— Hilary Wollis (@hilarywollis.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 12:17 PM

And once again, I must insist on describing what Scott Moe is doing as a "deadname policy" -- which sounds much worse than the innocuous "pronoun policy" language, because it IS much worse!

Carney gets the "Nobel Patience Prize"
This is brilliant!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 9, 2025 – Stockholm, Sweden Nobel Committee Announces Inaugural “Nobel Patience Prize” First Recipient: The Right Honourable Mark Carney, for Heroic Restraint in the Face of Unrelenting Nonsense The Nobel Committee for Peace and Sanity is proud to announce the establishment of a brand-new category: The Nobel Patience Prize. This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate extraordinary restraint, composure, and serenity while surrounded by persistent absurdity at the highest levels of public life. In its inaugural year, the Committee faced no debate, no shortlist, and certainly no runner-up. By unanimous acclamation, Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, economist, and part-time diplomatic hostage to political chaos, has been selected as the first-ever laureate of the Nobel Patience Prize. Citation “For maintaining calm expression, dignified posture, and coherent sentences while conversing with individuals for whom coherence is merely aspirational.” Background and Justification The Committee noted that Prime Minister Carney’s recent interactions with Transformational President Donald J. Trump—who this week described Canada as “our scenic northern asset portfolio”—constituted “a masterclass in self-regulation under duress.” During a joint briefing on trade, Mr. Carney reportedly stood motionless, blinking only twice, as President Trump unveiled his vision for a “continental crypto-currency solely backed by Canada’s extensive maple syrup reserves.” According to observers, Carney’s only reply—“That’s… innovative”—has since been hailed as the most diplomatic pause in recorded history. A Daily Practice of Restraint The Committee’s report further documents Carney’s ongoing patience training regimen, noting that “the Prime Minister endures daily exposure to Pierre Poilievre, both in the House of Commons and in unstructured social environments.” Witnesses from the Parliament’s centre block cafeteria describe scenes of heroic composure: “Poilievre was insisting Carney pick up the lunch tab again,” said one staffer who asked to remain anonymous, “claiming he left his chef-prepared four-course box lunch on the kitchen table at Stornoway.” Mr. Carney was observed calmly retrieving his wallet, sighing only once, and politely reminding Mr. Poilievre that fiscal responsibility begins at lunch. Statement from the Nobel Committee Chair Dr. Ingrid Halvorsen, Chair of the Nobel Committee, elaborated: “Mr. Carney’s patience transcends ordinary endurance. We measured his composure in real-time with data collected through biometrics during Question Period. His resting heart rate actually decreased while listening to Mr. Poilievre discuss monetary policy. Frankly, we thought the monitor was broken at first.” On the Future of the Prize The Committee confirmed that the Nobel Patience Prize will not necessarily be awarded annually, noting that “it may take decades before another human displays comparable tolerance.” A small silver medallion will accompany the award, depicting a serene Carney seated in lotus position between two microphones—one labeled “Trump,” the other “Poilievre”—beneath the inscription: “In Composure Veritas.” About the Nobel Patience Prize Established in 2025, the Nobel Patience Prize honours those who maintain grace under the gravitational pull of foolishness. It joins the Peace Prize as one of the Committee’s two most urgently relevant categories in modern civilization. Press Contact: The Nobel Committee for Patience Email: press@nobelpatience.org Phone: +46 08 555 555 Editor’s Note: This release is entirely satirical, any resemblance to real politicians or scenarios is coincidental—if occasionally accurate.

- Northern Variables

Read on Substack

What Canadians think about American fascism
A fascinating review by pollster Kyla Ronellenfitsch on how Canadians view American democracy now. I found the most interesting sections covered what we think is coming next:

...Seniors have the darkest view of what’s happening under Trump. Approximately 3 in 5 seniors think “dictatorship,” “authoritarian,” and “democratic backsliding” completely describe what’s happening in the US. This compares to ~35% of Canadians younger than 65. That’s not to say that younger Canadians aren’t seeing it; they are, they’re just less definitive in their assessment....
Consequences for Canada
To me, as a citizen, the question that’s been on my mind is, THEN WHAT??? If we’re living next door to an authoritarian country, what will it mean for us? This is where Canadians are less sure. Canadians are most likely to believe we’ll see an increase in Canadian pride. Beyond that, 22% think it’s “certain” we’ll see an increase in refugees from the US, 21% believe it’s certain our economy will weaken, 17% expect conflict over Canadian territory, and 15% expect more extreme politics in Canada. But for all of these items, Canadians tend to be in the middle - they think it’s likely or possible, but they aren’t 100% sure either way....
...In a context where there is already backlash to immigration in Canada and the Conservatives are intent on making immigration part of their core litany of issues (ex., here, here), I was interested in understanding, if it comes to this, how Canadians feel about different types of Americans flocking to our country.

Support outweighs opposition for all types of immigration tested, although there’s a very clear hierarchy. At the top of the list are those who want to go through Canada’s regular immigration process (66% support), businesses (66%), and doctors who can no longer practice freely since abortion rights were overturned (63%). This is followed closely by professors whose free speech and academic freedom are being limited (58%). Approximately half of Canadians support bringing in international students who are trying to leave the US.

Results are more mixed when looking at refugee claimants. 48% of Canadians support the acceptance of gay, lesbian, and bisexual refugees, 48% support racial minority refugees, 46% support accepting transgender refugees, and 43% support the acceptance of political refugees.
Support for accepting Americans fleeing the political environment in the US is much higher among Liberal voters than Conservative voters. This gap is especially pronounced for professors, international students, and those seeking refugee status....

I was glad to see this support for American refugees, because I think we'll be seeing more now.

Notice a lot of those early to leave the U.S are prominent historians - people like Timothy Snyder & Mark Bray. They know what’s coming.

— Cam Bennett (@cambennett.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 11:35 PM

Mark Bray, historian of anti-fascism at Rutgers University, left the U.S. with his famimy on Thursday night in the wake of death threats that followed President Trump’s push to characterize the left-wing antifascist movement as a domestic terrorist organization. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n...

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— Nicolas Martin-Breteau (@nmartinbreteau.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 9:20 PM

The Bray family flight to Spain on Wednesday was mysteriously cancelled when they were at the gate ready to board, nobody knows why. But on Thursday night they finally did get out of the US.