The annual convention for the Municipalities of Saskatchewan (formerly Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association) was different from any other in the past, but Estevan mayor Roy Ludwig said it was a good experience.
The gathering of urban municipality leaders was held virtually from Feb. 7-10. All members of Estevan city council gathered to listen to presentations and discuss issues that are important to the province.
Ludwig said the digital fee didn’t always work, but they heard the important information. About 400 people from across the province attended the convention, which Ludwig said is a smaller number than normal.
Among the presentations they heard were from Doug Griffiths, who gave a talk about succession planning within municipalities, and Kendal Netmaker gave a keynote address on inclusive communities.
Representatives of the cities participated in a city sector meeting, and Ludwig said it went well.
Only a few resolutions were voted on during the convention. Ludwig said normally there would be 20-24 concepts put before the members for a vote. A couple of motions dealt with environmental issues, but the big topic of discussion was for towns and villages to have elections every two years, like the RMs, rather than every four years.
“There was lots of discussion back and forth, and at the end, it was pretty soundly defeated,” said Ludwig.
The event also featured speeches by Municipalities of Saskatchewan representatives, Premier Scott Moe, numerous cabinet ministers and leader of the Official Opposition Ryan Meili.
Ludwig noted that SaskPower president and chief executive officer Mike Marsh participated in the convention, and received lots of questions about what will happen in Estevan, but Ludwig felt there weren’t a lot of answers.
“With clean coal technologies, they’re looking at everything, with wind and solar and gas, and with the new regulations coming out, you couldn’t really say one way or the other, he definitely wouldn’t commit to what they’re going to make.”
Gordon Barnhart was defeated in the election for the association’s president’s role. Barnhart was criticized early this year when it was discovered he travelled internationally during the Christmas break. Barnhart still made speeches during the event.
Naicam Mayor Rodger Hayward was elected as the new president. Also on the executive is Torquay Mayor Michael Strachan, who is the vice-president for villages, resort villages and northern municipalities.
Even though the number of people participating in the convention was down, Ludwig said there were challenges with so many people present online.
“As much as we say technology’s a great thing, even in the live conventions there’s lots of hiccups with the technologies and intermittency with the signal. Of course, the same thing happened virtually. Quite a few times, the speakers would cut out. Although they did the best they could, you’re always going to have some of that, depending where you’re listening from.”
A virtual component could be part of the convention in the future, he said, even if the experience isn’t the same.
“You don’t get the same networking impact when you can visit with people face to face and share common problems, common issues,” said Ludwig.
Municipalities are waiting for the pandemic to come to an end, and to have a return to normal, Ludwig said, and there is growing impatience with the time it is taking to roll out the COVID-19 vaccines.
