Over three dozen delegates, committee chairs, and district staff came out on a snowy evening for a meet and greet in the Souris Legion.
Scott Phillips, a councillor for the RM of Sifton, is running to represent the Western District on the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM). To date, he’s the sole candidate for this position which is listed as vacant on the AMM website.
Phillips says he’s passionate about supporting rural life in Westman. To that end he’s been part of a doctor recruitment and retention group and other lobby efforts to keep services flowing and community life strong.
Phillips hosted the meet and greet, he says, to get people together - something that was difficult during two years of Covid. Now, following the recent election of municipal officials, there are new faces on councils and boards in Westman.
Phillips says, “I wanted people to meet their neighbouring councillors and catch up, as it’s been a long haul the last few years.”
The gathering heard updates from the Souris River Watershed District, the Southwest Weed District, Souris and Hartney Doctor Recruitment & Retention, and Souris Veterinary Clinic.
With the fall AMM Convention is just around the corner, Nov. 21-23, in Winnipeg, there was discussion about what Westman people wanted to accomplish there.
“The big three of health, crime and infrastructure are always a hot topic, but so are lobbying efforts to reopen some MASC offices, increase conservation officers, population retention, transparency and removal of red tape and downloading (expenses) to RMs,” says Phillips.
He said it was a satisfying gathering with over two hours of conversation, questions and ideas presented.
AMM Executive elections
There are a number of vacancies on the sleight of the district representative panel.
This year, for the executive positions, president, incumbent, and uncontested is Kam Blight, Reeve of RM of Portage la Prairie who will continue in office.
Reeve Clayton Canart of the RM of Wallace-Woodworth is running for the vice-president position on the AMM executive. The contest includes incumbent Brad Saluk, Reeve, RM of Brokenhead; Murray Parrott, Councillor, Town of Neepawa; and Kathy Valentino, Councillor, City of Thompson.
