ESTEVAN - Members of Estevan city council were kept busy at the annual convention for the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), held in Saskatoon from April 13-16.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said all seven members of Estevan city council attended this year's gathering.
Homelessness, drug addiction and mental health were among the big topics at this year's convention. Ludwig said it's problematic throughout the province, and not just in the large cities and in communities the size of Estevan.
"We're looking to the province to work with us, and to collaborate with us, to take care of some of those large issues," said Ludwig.
Also discussed was the date for the next civic election. The municipalities lost their traditional election date in October when the provincial government decided to have their vote in October 2020. The municipal election was pushed back two weeks, creating confusion among voters. Some communities had to further delay their votes due to a winter storm that hit on election day in November 2020.
According to Ludwig, SUMA has made four requests to change the election date.
"We've been after this ever since the province took our date in October," said Ludwig.
The next civic election is scheduled for November of next year.
"All we can do is continue to request, but they probably won't be allowing us to do that [change the date] because we've already asked four times," said Ludwig.
Twelve resolutions were debated at the convention, with 11 receiving support from the delegates.
One called on the Ministry of Finance to immediately reinstate a PST exemption on municipal construction projects.
In another motion, SUMA delegates also voted in favour of increasing Saskatchewan Income Support rates to meet the basic cost of living, to restore direct rent and utilities payments to all that need them, and to develop more supportive housing options for those deemed hard to house due to mental health and addictions.
Also approved was a resolution where SUMA advocated the provincial minister of finance remove the PST on event tickets, which was discussed by council a few weeks before the convention.
One resolution with provincial and federal implications called for SUMA to advocate the provincial and federal governments to provide additional relief to municipalities due to the effects of the carbon tax, either through municipal revenue sharing or some other measure.
Another one grants municipalities, especially resort villages, the option of allowing golf carts to be operated on municipal roads.
The only defeated motion called for a one-year grace period after a general election, where if a mayor or councillor steps down during that time, the candidate with the next-highest number of votes would be acclaimed to the position.
Ludwig noted that some members went to SUMA a day early to attend the educational sessions that were held, and some left a day early to get back to Estevan before the April 19 snowstorm hit. Coun. Tony Sernick stuck around for the final day of the convention and represented the city at the bearpit session with provincial cabinet ministers.
"He did bring up the issue on where we're at with power, and in 2030 with the federal government mandating the end of [conventional] coal [electricity]," said Ludwig.
The city wants to get the federal government, the provincial government and SaskPower together with the workers from Westmoreland Mining LLC and SaskPower to collaborate on what can be done.
Ludwig said council always looks forward to going to events like the convention. The networking is great, and they get the chance to share problems with like-minded communities and look for opportunities to come up with solutions.
