Former Weyburn mayor and past president of SUMA Debra Button received the Scoop Lewry Award at the annual convention for the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association in Regina.
The 113th annual SUMA convention began on Sunday with some educational sessions, with the main sessions on Monday through to today, Feb. 7, with nearly 1,000 representatives from the cities, towns and villages in Saskatchewan. This year’s theme is “The Power of Hometowns”.
The opening ceremonies were held on Monday morning, with speeches from the SUMA president and from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), along with Premier Scott Moe, who was just sworn in on Friday along with his new cabinet. The leader of the Opposition also spoke on Monday.
The delegates debated a number of resolutions on Tuesday, and the keynote address was by Doug Griffiths, president of 13 Ways, who talked about what can make or break a community, based on his book, “13 Ways to Kill Your Community”.
SUMA will wrap up the convention today featuring the bearpit session with members of the provincial cabinet.
The Saskatchewan Municipal Awards were presented on Tuesday, including the Scoop Lewry Award, meritorious service awards and the honourary service awards, with three local officials recognized.
The Scoop Lewry Award recognizes outstanding services in municipal government or administration on a local, provincial or national basis.
The award is named in memory of L.H. “Scoop” Lewry, a long-time mayor of Moose Jaw and a past president of SUMA, who dedicated his career to improving his community with a kind and humanitarian spirit.
Button was elected as SUMA’s first female president in 2013, and at the time was in her third term as mayor of Weyburn, and her fifth term on city council.
In less than four years, she left an indelible mark on SUMA’s history, profile, culture and spirit, and established a reputation with SUMA’s partners as a strong, capable and respected municipal leader.
“Her strong and charismatic leadership was obvious from the moment of her election as SUMA president, and she worked tirelessly on behalf of Saskatchewan hometowns,” said the award information from SUMA. “She travelled the province to engage with SUMA members, served on boards and committees on their behalf, and advocated for them in interviews, board rooms, offices and conferences all over Canada.”
Button was active with FCM’s board of directors, participated in an international project for FCM in Ukraine, and was an advocate for many issues, including gender diversity and equality in government.
During the awards program, Barb Caird and Wayne Myren, both from the Town of Ogema, and Thomas Sangster from the Town of Stoughton, were presented honourary service awards.
These are granted to elected officials throughout the province who have 20 or more years of service, recognizing their long-term dedication to and involvement in their local communities. Caird and Myren have each served for 25 years, and Sangster for 24 years.
The theme for this year’s convention highlights that SUMA members are the economic drivers of the province, with almost 80 per cent of the population living in the cities, towns and villages of Saskatchewan.
