The recent Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention was an opportunity for Moose Jaw’s elected officials to speak with provincial and federal representatives about issues affecting the community.
Nearly 1,000 representatives from Saskatchewan’s cities, towns, villages, resort villages and northern municipalities gathered in Regina from Feb. 2 to 5 for the 115th annual convention. It was also during this convention that SUMA rebranded itself as the Municipalities of Saskatchewan (MOS).
Mayor Fraser Tolmie said he was pleased with how the convention went, especially since this was his second time chairing the City Mayors Caucus and he felt more comfortable in the role. One of his major tasks was chairing the bear pit session and ensuring it ran smoothly; the session featured the premier and his cabinet taking questions from delegates for an hour.
“It’s about an hour-long task, but it’s a fairly intense period,” he said.
Tolmie was grateful that the other mayors nominated him for the position two years ago. He added that he would not seek another term as chair of the 18-member group once his time was over.
One guest at the convention was the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). Tolmie spoke with the man about issues affecting Moose Jaw and how the FCM can help municipalities better advocate the federal government.
One particular concern Tolmie had was in how municipalities access federal funding. He pointed out the programs the federal government develops don’t always suit communities in Western Canada. For example, while developing the 2020 budget, city council had to seek permission from the province to use federal funds for the cast iron water main replacement program that were originally earmarked for transportation.
“We have to move away from the cookie-cutter approach … ,” Fraser said. “It’s a challenge that not every community has the same needs. Therefore, our priorities in our community need to be addressed. When we try and do that, it’s almost like a lottery trying to get federal and provincial dollars to suit programs that we need in our community.”
This funding should be easily accessible since this is money that the municipality contributes in taxes, he continued. What council wants is a fair model that ensures predictable funding for the community. It was the FCM that encouraged the federal government to double how much gas tax funding municipalities received.
Other issues raised during the MOS convention that affect all communities focused on mental health, infrastructure and methamphetamine. Tolmie thought the provincial government was aware of these concerns and was working to address them.
While the provincial government said it would not share any of the taxes generated through cannabis sales — “only” $11 million, according to the Ministry of Finance — it indicated there would be an increase in municipal revenue sharing to $278 million from $251 million, or 11 per cent.
“I’m very happy with that,” said Tolmie.
Part of that municipal revenue comes from projects municipalities undertake since PST has been tacked onto large construction projects for the past couple of years, he explained. Municipalities would prefer to be exempt from having to pay PST on such projects; Tolmie was unsure just how much money Moose Jaw would receive from municipal revenue sharing.
The renaming of Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association to Municipalities of Saskatchewan was something that began before Tolmie joined the executive, he said. The change happened since some federal officials were confused about who SUMA and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) were and who they represented.
“We felt we had to differentiate ourselves … ,” he added. “We will continue to build relationships with SARM. It was in the best interest of MOS for the name to change.”
