The Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) convention is taking place this coming Monday, November 25, with an election for its new president scheduled for the 27th.
Election Details
Executive Director Denys Volkov says eligible delegates will be able to vote for President and two Vice Presidents. You can find the list of names on their dedicated election page at www.amm.mb.ca/2024-executive-committee-elections/.
Transition of Leadership
RM of Portage la Prairie Reeve Kam Blight is leaving the position, and Volkov says he was a great president with whom he had the privilege to work.
"He was president for four years and he was a vice president before that, so he's been involved with AMM for a long time in executive positions," notes Volkov. "This is very exciting coming out of COVID. We have a very competitive race for President and for two Vice Presidents. So, our Board of Directors consists of elected officials from all over Manitoba. But the executive really has a lot of say in how the board meetings are run and how the organization is projecting to the provincial government."
Responsibilities of the New President
He explains that the one who will be elected must work with the board staff and then communicate the priorities of municipalities from all over Manitoba to the provincial and federal governments.
"We are now making sure that we are also addressing federal priorities with the federal government, not just provincial priorities. The convention starts on Monday officially with the opening ceremony. So, the premier of the province will be there and the new Minister of Municipal Relations will be there. We also have a number of resolutions that will be brought forward on Tuesday and then we have the election on Wednesday. In between, we have professional development sessions, educational opportunities for Members, updates on policy files, and inspirational speakers. So, we have a lot planned."
News Conference
Volkov adds a news conference is taking place at 11:30 a.m. on Monday as well on priorities for the resolutions that they're highlighting and believe are important to their members and all Manitobans.
Key Resolutions
"We certainly are highlighting a couple of resolutions. One relates to the news coming out of Swan River, mostly The Pas; the harm reduction strategy out there—the provincial initiative to distribute needles to addicts. Unfortunately, it's causing an increase in crime. There are needles everywhere around communities, and members are bringing forward resolutions from Swan River and The Pas saying that those needles have to be cleaned up."
He explains there must be a holistic approach in place for public safety.
"On the one hand, we're very pleased the provincial government released the public safety strategy last week. We're really looking forward to working with the province on that. On the other hand, an issue like that can really put a lot of obstacles to public safety when you have a whole community littered with needles."
Municipal Board Mandate
Volkov says a second issue that's of major importance is the resolution from several dozens of their members.
"Multiple municipalities passed a resolution on reviewing the mandate of the Municipal Board. It's an agency set up by the provincial government. We need a second look at some of the decisions made by municipal governments and our members believe the current mandate is outdated and needs to be reviewed. Some are questioning if we even need the Municipal Board with the same mandate that they have now. So, they're calling for the complete review of the Municipal Board. I understand why, because municipalities are a mature level of government. They are able to make decisions on their own. They don't need other agencies second-guessing decisions that they're making."
Infrastructure Concerns
He adds infrastructure is always a major concern for municipalities and is one of their top four issues.
"We certainly hope that we will hear more about infrastructure, roads, and bridges. We're talking about mostly municipal issues from our members, but we also want to make sure that all of those plans are integrated with the provincial plan. There are a lot of hopes put in the Blue Ribbon Panel set up by the provincial government and we are members of that, so we are hoping to see an integrated infrastructure plan that benefits municipalities in the near future."
Highway 227 Concerns
Considering how our region, especially the RM of Portage la Prairie, is deeply concerned over Highway 227 being paved, Volkov explains that being a provincial organization, it's the members who bring up individual highway concerns in their areas with ministers.
"At the same time, there are meetings happening between different ministers and municipalities where they might bring up issues like that, that are very sort of unique to each area. At AMM, we try to lobby on behalf of all municipalities, so we want to make sure that the infrastructure budget has more money for roads and bridges everywhere around the province."
Relations with the NDP Government
Volkov says work with the current NDP government has included a really good relationship with the Premier's office.
"The premier has been very responsive to the needs of AMM. We also have a new Minister from the city of Brandon who is now in the Legislature and Minister of Municipal Northern Relations. So, we're looking forward to working with him. We had some interactions with him already. We know that he brought in great staff to work with him already, and there is a new Deputy Minister whom we're looking forward to working with. So, there is a complete reset in the municipal relations department and we're looking forward to working with new faces and new people."
Increased Facetime with Ministers
One thing Volkov adds that he'd like to see more of is facetime with Ministers. He says they have ministers at all of their meetings, but not all the members have the chance to dialogue with them.
"When they travel all the way, and they spend all that money to get to Winnipeg this year to meet at an AMM conference and see the different ministers, we just want them to have as many opportunities as possible so they can bring their own issues forward."
Facilitating Ministerial Meetings
We want to facilitate that this year. There are always meetings with ministers, but we always want to see as many as possible. Our Members that are already there are attending our conference. They have an opportunity to attend those meetings.
Presentation from Doctors Manitoba
"We will have a presentation from Doctors Manitoba to our members talking about the recruitment of healthcare professionals in areas outside of Winnipeg."