Yorkton’s Mayor is taking on a more prominent role in the province. Bob Maloney has been named the Vice President of Cities at the recent SUMA conference, which makes him chair of the SUMA mayor’s caucus.
For his part, Maloney is looking forward to working closer with the provincial and federal governments. He sees it as an opportunity to get more closely involved with SUMA, show some leadership and move things forward that have been on the table for a long time.
Maloney says that the focus of the Mayor’s caucus will be similar to his own focus as mayor, working to improve infrastructure in cities. Maloney hopes that they can find new ways to fund infrastructure in cities, long a crisis situation and one he believes is getting worse.
“There isn’t enough money out there and we’re falling behind.”
It’s also going to be an important time for cities to have a say in the operation of the province, as the provincial government examines “transformational change” in the way it operates. The cities need a voice in this process, and Maloney believes that SUMA needs to work to protect funding and revenue sharing as the government contemplates what it means by that “transformational change.”
Having a larger role in SUMA will be a good opportunity for Yorkton, as the city – like all cities in the province – struggles to keep up on infrastructure spending. Maloney notes that eighty per cent of people in the province live in cities, so their needs need to be a focus of higher levels of government.
Showing leadership also means working with the new mayors of Saskatchewan’s cities, Maloney says, as the most recent election saw new mayors in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Weyburn, Lloydminister and North Battleford, for example. As a second term mayor, he has the chance to bring his experience to the table.
The most recent SUMA convention went well, Maloney says, with a chance to talk to Ralph Goodale about federal programs which are coming as well as with Donna Harpauer about what is happening in the province.
The previous V.P. of Cities was Malcolm Eaton, former Mayor of Humboldt, who retired from that role before the recent election. Maloney was nominated for the role by Michael Fougere, Mayor of Regina.
