Three members of Ste. Anne Town Council recently returned from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual conference in Ottawa with a renewed sense of collaboration and shared purpose.
Councillors Jeremy Wiens, Jason Einarson and Lyle Davis attended the national gathering, which brought together leaders from communities across Canada.
Wiens says one of the most valuable aspects of the event was the opportunity to network and build relationships with officials from other municipalities.
"One of the greatest things is all across Canada, you get to hear that different RMs are dealing with a lot of the same issues that we deal with," Wiens says. "So it's not just us trying to figure out how to get through this."
Crime, healthcare among key issues
Wiens attended several workshops, including one on bail reform and petty crime, which focused on the effects of repeat offences and minimal consequences for low-level crime.
“At first, I wasn't sure how it would relate to municipalities, but they really talked about petty crime and letting criminals back out for petty crime without much consequence.”
Wiens says it was eye-opening to learn about this topic from a police perspective.
“It was just interesting to hear how that is all across Canada as well,” he says.
Healthcare was also a recurring topic at the conference, particularly the need for better access and more physicians.
"Recognizing your problem is one thing, but trying to find a good solution is a whole other thing," Wiens notes.
Local collaboration could follow
Wiens says the conference highlighted the benefits of working together locally as well. He says the City of Steinbach, the RM of Hanover, RM of La Broquerie and others are dealing with similar challenges, and pooling resources or advocacy efforts could be helpful.
With plans to report back to the rest of Ste. Anne Town Council and administration, Wiens says the goal is to find practical ways to apply what they learned.
“It was a great convention,” he says. “We got to connect with a lot of different people. Sometimes it’s just good to know that you’re not alone. And even with local municipalities, knowing that we could probably work together on some of these things. Now it’s about getting back here and let’s dig in, let’s figure out how to do that.”