Despite not having the ability to meet in person, community representatives from across the province met online at the Municipalities of Saskatchewan virtual regional meetings, including some local representatives.
The Dec. 1 meeting had 38 communities from the North, Northwest, Northeast and West Central regions meeting to discuss current issues and discuss local problems with Municipalities of Saskatchewan leaders.
Municipalities of Saskatchewan President Gordon Barnhart said both he and the administration of his organization gave updates on their advocacy work over the past year, and what issues and discussions have been taking place at the board level.
Community representatives all got to introduce themselves and talk about what is going on in their communities. Barnhart said he was impressed at the number of communities working on renewal projects for their sewer and water or water treatment plants and wastewater lagoons.
This is a big issue province-wide for communities no matter the size, he said.
“About 60 years ago all of these communities put those systems in, and they're now needing to be replaced. There are many communities doing that, but there are even more that need to do it and they haven't yet gotten a grant from the government and they can’t afford to do it individually.”
COVID-19 of course is an issue that is also impacting communities from across the province, with questions on educational facilities and arena closures to deferred tax revenue all impacting Saskatchewan communities, Barnhart said.
Despite the issues, he is seeing community members working together and communicating with each other in order to solve some of these problems, he said.
Saskatchewan resort villages were also a major topic of discussion, Barnhart said, with those communities being proportionately the most active growing sector of Saskatchewan communities. But they are facing their own set of challenges, he said.
“We have resort villages now breaking away from their RM and forming themselves as an independent resort village. But even more importantly, they're then joining other resort villages, for economies and efficiencies, but also to give themselves strength as they're struggling against the RM.”
City of Melfort Mayor Glenn George stepped down from his role as Northeast regional director leaving the position open to the election process that took place during the meeting.
Another familiar face stepped up, with Melfort councillor April Phillips being elected to the role.
Municipalities of Saskatchewan has been a great group for the city to be a part of, Phillips said, and she wanted to take her own involvement one step further by becoming part of the board.
As a small city, Melfort has a voice when it comes to lobbying the provincial and federal governments for funding or policy analysis, but collectively communities working together are stronger, she said.
“When you have a problem, chances are another community also has that problem. It's so valuable to learn from each other and communicate with each other. You can find a lot of answers to a lot of issues just by talking with your neighbouring communities.”
Taking the opportunity to go virtual with the meeting was new for Hudson Bay Mayor Glenn McCaffery. This was something new for McCaffery to be on Zoom but he was happy with the discussion that took place and the connections the new technology allowed him.
“[There is a] need to be able to communicate with other communities, for example, and in groups that live around us. And that's more specific to dealing with COVID-19. And I did enjoy those discussions about what other communities are doing.”
Local communities are now discussing who will be in attendance at the annual Municipalities of Saskatchewan conference in February.
New Municipalities of Saskatchewan Directors:
- Richard Beck - Northwest Region
- Michelle McKenzie - Southwest Region
- Randy Donauer - City of Saskatoon
- Bryan Matheson - Central Region
- April Phillips - Northeast Region
- Randy Goulden - East Central Region
- Bob Hawkins - City of Regina
- Rod Perkins - West Central Region
- Darren Hill - City of Saskatoon
- Patricia Jackson - Southeast Region
- Dawn Luhning - City of Moose Jaw
- Gerald Roy - Northern Region
- Ted Zurakowski - City of Prince Albert
