Eyes on budget as municipal leaders gather

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This article was published 10/04/2017 (2719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mayors, reeves and municipal councillors from across the province are going to be in close proximity this week to be able to hold provincial politicians’ feet to the fire as the Pallister government presents its budget today.

That’s because starting today, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities will be holding meetings in Winnipeg that will bring roughly 600 municipal officials together. Mayors, reeves and chief administrative officers will be meeting today, ahead of the big municipal officials seminar on Wednesday and Thursday.

Chris Goertzen, chairman of the AMM and the mayor of Steinbach, said the Pallister government’s initiative to reduce red tape is something his membership is keenly interested in.

“We continue to look for partnerships,” Goertzen said. “That comes in a variety of ways. It can be financial or it can be working on red tape and reducing regulations that impede municipalities. It will be an interesting time to look at the budget and then meet with so many municipal officials from across the province in one place.”

In a recent survey, the AMM asked members where they would like to see the province cut red tape. The organization used those responses for a submission to the government, highlighting the issues that were of most concern to its members.

They included lots of issues around drainage regulations, including better consistency in drainage licence applications, as well as hassles with Municipal Board hearing scheduling and, Public Utilities Board matters.

“It’s an opportunity for our members to dialogue,” AMM executive director Joe Masi said. “We support regulations but they have to be reviewed from time to time and this government is prepared to do that. We are pleased with that. We want to make sure our members have the opportunity to fully discuss any concerns with regulations that get in the way of them becoming better and stronger communities.”

The municipal officials seminar will tackle tricky issues such as privacy breach planning and management from a municipal perspective, social media strategies, developing workplace harassment prevention plans as well as strategizing on issues like maximizing the impact of the arts and culture industries and the value of tourism.

But likely all eyes will also be on today’s budget, which Goertzen points out will be the first that the Pallister government can put its full stamp on.

He is encouraged by its commitment to reduce red tape.

“We have seen a real partnership develop with the provincial government on that front,” he said. “We want to continue to see that transpire. We think it can save municipalities money and if we can find solutions that are more effective it will actually save the province money as well.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca