Norm McFadden announced earlier this week his bid for re-election as Reeve of the R.M. of Weyburn No. 67.
Thanks to some help from the people around him, McFadden said these last four years have flown by for him.
“We've got top-notch staff both out on the road and in the office so that's definitely helped. It makes it easier as well to decide to want to stick around for another four years hopefully. To be honest, it seems like just yesterday I was campaigning for the first term.”
McFadden has worked with both Councillors and workers in the R.M. over the past four years to tackle big projects throughout the Weyburn area.
Some of the biggest ones in the R.M.'s history, however, are still to come, such as the proposed Enbridge wind project to the east of Weyburn.
"I've been telling people, when the announcement came out in late June, that's when we found out that this was moving forward," he noted. "So that was a little bit of a challenge seeing this is happening in our backyard, and we find out through the media."
"There's a lot of moving parts to something like this, and we're not experts in this field, so at our last Council meeting, we've actually asked for a moratorium and resolution to SARM's convention in the fall to hopefully have the provincial government come up with some regulations for these kinds of projects. Let's get experts involved to come up with regulations for this and not leave every R.M. basically out on an island to figure it out for themselves."
While he has gone uncontested in the election, which would be perceived as a good thing for most politicians. McFadden, however, said he believes competition breeds success.
“I've always believed that you like to see some competition. It for one gives people a choice and I've always believed that people should have a choice, and for me, if I do have someone to run against, it's forcing me to get out and talk with people and that's good, too. That was probably the most enjoyable part, four years ago running for Reeve, is you know get out and meet people.”
Serving on a Council as a Reeve or Councillor does require a commitment in both time and effort. Council meetings, deadlines, and disgruntled community members are all part of the job, but as McFadden stated, it’s not about the glamour.
“You're definitely not doing it for the money. You know, you're doing it because you want your community to be better and I think that's the biggest reason for a lot of people who do step up into these kinds of roles. They want to see better, and there is better out there all the time. You're always looking to improve.”
With elections at full steam ahead on all levels of government from rural municipalities to the federal government, a public notice of nominations was called for reeve and Councillors for divisions 1, 3, and 5, which must be tabled by October 9th. Voting takes place on November 13th.
For those interested, nomination forms can be found at the R.M. office. More information can also be found on the R.M. website or on their Facebook page.