Bernie Collins has been recognized for his decades of service to the Estevan area.
Woodlawn Avenue South in southwest Estevan has been renamed Collins Road. An unveiling ceremony was held on Monday afternoon. Collins was present, and was joined by members of his family, friends and representatives of Estevan city council.
Collins was a long-time educator and politician in Estevan. He spent multiple terms as a councillor in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and served as the city’s mayor from 1985 to 1988.
His final term as a councillor ended in 2003.
Collins also served as the member of Parliament for Souris-Moose Mountain from 1993 to 1997.
He said he is honoured to have a street named after him.
“The time that you put in is important, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to serve,” said Collins.
He also served on a number of committees, including the parks and recreation board, the St. Joseph’s Hospital Board and the Estevan Public Library board.
“I taught literature years ago, and Victor Hugo had written that line for Jean Valean (in Les Misérables), ‘It is important you do everything you can for your community,’” said Collins. “It kind of stuck with me.”
Collins carries lots of memories from his time as mayor. He remembers when one person used some foul language in his comments on an issue. Collins proceeded to tell him the conversation was over.
Just because people voted for him didn’t give them the right to use that language, he said.
Also, when he was mayor, his family had a cottage near Prince Albert. He would drive back to Estevan to get back for the meetings on Monday nights.
“You have to have another kind of commitment that you’re going to be there and do your best,” said Collins. “And if that’s what you do, you’ll get your recognition.”
When he did encounter someone with concerns, Collins would urge them to put their request in and be heard.
“If you’re not happy, you better let them know, because they don’t do lip service, and they don’t hear very well if you don’t communicate. Don’t do it in a mean-spirited way,” said Collins.
And if they still had concerns, then he would urge them to run for council.
One of those people who heeded that advice is current Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig.
“I was complaining to Bernie one day, and he said ‘Roy, you seem to have some strong issues here. Why don’t you put your name forward at the next opportunity?’”
Ludwig successfully ran for a councillor post in 1994. He remained a councillor until 2012, when he became mayor.
“Bernie was the catalyst who got me involved,” said Ludwig.
People were generally respectful in addressing their concerns, Collins said, and he doesn’t recall many times in which he heard overly negative views.
He considers himself blessed to have been able to serve on council and on the different committees he was a part of.
The community is also fortunate to have the people that have been hired as employees.
“When they go down and do a job, you know it’s done,” said Collins. “I saw them … replace a water line … and they came back and had the surface back like new.”
Since he left council in 2003, Collins has been involved with different boards in the community, and has enjoyed his retirement from the political world. He didn’t feel it was right for him to continue to serve on council when he wasn’t in the community year-round, since he now spends three months of the year down south.
Collins misses being on council. He keeps close tabs on their activities, and he reminded council that they have a commitment to the taxpayers to strike a balance so that taxes aren’t burdensome for residents, but the city still has to be viable.
