By Michael Joel-Hansen

Municipal Affairs

SUMA ready to lobby after convention

Feb 8, 2019 | 5:31 PM

The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) is ready to go to work after their annual convention wrapped up in Saskatoon on Wednesday.

At the convention delegates voted on a number of resolutions asking SUMA to lobby the provincial government on certain issues. One of the resolutions was brought to the floor by the Resort Village of Candle Lake and asked that a new mechanism be created to deal with councillors who have been found to have committed ethics breaches.

President of SUMA Gordon Barnhart told paNOW the process to getting any legislation changed starts with the organization making contact with the ministry responsible. Barnhart explained when it comes to a sensitive issue like removing an elected official, there needs to be a careful approach.

“You wouldn’t want it to become too easy,” he said.

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Barnhart said they are prepared to start working with the government to make the needed changes, while ensuring balance.

“We have to find a happy spot in the middle there, where it’s easier than present, but it’s still sufficiently difficult,” he said.

Currently to remove a councillor, municipalities have to go to court, which is a timely and expensive process. Barnhart said municipal governments have been concerned for some time about what they view as a lack of ability to enforce certain rules and there has been some talk about the issue, but nothing firm has come about.

“There’s been no proposed legislation at this stage,” he said.

The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) has spoken with the provincial government about giving local councils more power to deal with problematic members in the past, including removing councillors.

“It’s not something the province has seen fit to do,” said SARM President Ray Orb.

Orb added it is possible the government may change their mind about the issue going forward. The SARM president explained his organization has lobbied for and put in place other measures, which includes educating councillors. One area where Orb expects to see some changes is whistle blower protections for RM administrators who bring wrong doing to light.

“It appears the province is wanting to go that way,” he said.

Orb stressed the organization urges councillors to follow guide lines and is pushing councillors and elected officials to be proactive on serious issues rather than reactive when it comes to potentially serious issues.

“I think it’s just something we’ll continue to monitor,” he said.

For its part the Ministry of Government Relations wrote to paNOW in an email that municipal councils can address problematic members by ordering suspensions, training or censure. The ministry added councillors are held accountable by the public when they stand for re-election.

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn