Christa Vann Mitchell, reeve of the RM of Cartier, has been re-elected as director for the Central District on the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) board. This marks her second term, following a recent vote by fellow municipal leaders.
Vann Mitchell says she is honoured by the renewed support and looks forward to building new partnerships.
“The confidence of the voters and all the peers in the room was simply amazing; to be thought of and recognized for our advocacy efforts. And now I get to welcome a new team member, which is Colin Doyle. So I'm very excited to have a new working partnership with him.”
Role of advocacy across diverse communities
As Central District director, Vann Mitchell represents a wide range of municipalities with varying needs and resources. Her primary responsibility is to listen to those local governments and help push unresolved issues forward when traditional channels have failed.
She says advocacy involves more than just policy—it’s about giving a voice to municipalities that might otherwise be overlooked.
“For Central director, it's basically listening to our membership. So, the municipalities that fall within the central region and when they have a problem that's stalled in government... they call us and we bring the issue to the table and we speak to it at board meetings, and see what our best course of action is to get a policy or something, or just maybe an email to the right minister to help it go along.”
She adds that with such a range of community sizes and budgets, her job is to ensure that no issue is too small when it matters to the people it affects.
Previous accomplishments and focus ahead
Vann Mitchell says one of her proudest achievements from her first term was helping stop the funding freeze for municipalities under the previous AMM president.
“With our last president, Mr. Blight, we started on the advocacy program for funding for municipalities. So, finally, we got the funding freeze stopped to all municipalities, and now we're basically pushing... the funding per capita is not working for all municipalities. So, we're looking for a funding increase from the provincial government to make municipalities more efficient.”
As she begins her new term, she says the AMM will continue focusing on four main pillars: crime, safety in communities, municipal funding models, and critical local issues.
Collaboration and connection with provincial leaders
Vann Mitchell says one of the most rewarding parts of her work is the access and relationship-building with provincial ministers.
“You get to meet the ministers, you get to tell them those municipality stories, and you get to tell them on such an even playing field, and it's great that they're listening to our conversations. It's a win-win. So, so far, so good. We've had some excellent, fantastic outcomes of our advocacy.”
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