MOOSOMIN — Chris Davidson has been a fixture around the Moosomin Town Council table for 21 years, but after some reflection, he’s decided not to throw his hat into the ring for the upcoming municipal election. There are three candidates vying for the mayor’s seat, and 11 others looking to fill six spaces on council this year.
“I think the last election, we were all in by acclamation,” Davidson said in comparing the interest this year to that of the 2020 election. “We only had six people put their name in for six seats. So yeah, it’s funny how it goes. Maybe it’s like the provincial and federal, maybe people are looking for change everywhere.”
Looking back over his time on council, Davidson has many fond memories of projects he’s witnessed come to fruition, expanding the town to the bustling centre it is today.
“I remember back when I first ran, I said that Moosomin has always been a good place to live, raise a family, and run a business,” he said. “I kept that as a model through the whole number of years, and I believe that Moosomin is still a great place to raise a family and run a business and to live in.”
Just a few highlights over his tenure include fundraising and working to open the integrated care facility in 2008, the MCC Convention Centre, and the lagoon expansion of 2012.
“This new water treatment plant that we’re building right now, I was quite involved with it,” Davidson explained. “I’ve been the on the Public Works Committee ever since I’ve been on council and been the utility chair, so I was always quite involved with water works and sewage. This has been a long time coming, this new water plant. The old one’s five years over its life expectancy, so it’s time to get something done there.”
Davidson is pleased with how the new water treatment plant project is progressing, anticipated it to be online in February.
“It’s cutting edge technology,” he said. “We’re doing away with the old carbon filters, and using a bacteriological pre filter, and then we’re putting reverse osmosis membranes in, so it’s going to be a great improvement to the quality of the water.”
A partnership between the Town and RM of Moosomin, plus the Community Builders Alliance has been a large contributor to the success of more recent projects.
“I think that’s been very helpful in getting the economic development happening in the community,” Davidson said. “Over the last three years, we’ve seen a lot of big projects happen, and I don’t think that would have happened if we didn’t have that collaboration between those three entities. The airport is a big one that I don’t think could have ever happened without the co-operation of others to make it a regional project rather than just a town project.”
Davidson says collaboration seems to be the key ingredient to seeing a region thrive, as evidenced with the partnerships the Town of Moosomin enjoys.
“Some big things can happen when you get people working together,” Davidson said. “I think over the years, councils have worked well together, and we’ve tried to build relationships with the RM of Moosomin and the RM of Martin and to try to have more of a regional vision, as opposed to just looking after yourself and letting everybody else look out for themselves.”
The collaboration model is also something other forms of government look towards as a way to gauge the health of a region.
“When it comes to provincial and federal funding, both the province and feds are quite happy when they see that people are trying to work as a region, as opposed to working just for themselves,” Davidson explained. “It helps in sourcing funding when you can work together, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of doing that over the last few years.”
When asked for advice to new councillors, Davidson again stressed the importance of teamwork.
“Working together is a big thing,” he said simply.
Over the years, Davidson has also been involved in a number of organizations. Some of the clubs Davidson has been part of include chair of the Moosomin and District Regional Park Authority since 1992, a member of the local Elks Lodge, and Masonic Lodge for several years—and he intends to continue his involvement with service organizations.
“I’ll have a little more time now that I’m not on council, so maybe I can do some more things in those areas,” he said. “It seems like it’s tough to get younger people involved in some of that stuff.”
The positive momentum currently enjoyed by Moosomin shows no signs of slowing down as Davidson listed some exciting projects that are either ongoing or slated for development in the near future.
“We need to get this daycare built, and hopefully the new council will keep working that way,” he said. “The CT scanner’s another one. I know we started talking three or four years ago about a new arena, like a skating rink and multiplex kind of facility. And there is a long-term plan that’s in the works to get a new facility of that magnitude built, and hopefully that can happen in the next number of years.”
