Movers and shakers in Flin Flon business and politics had the ear of a provincial cabinet minister last weekend.
Municipal Relations Minister Jeff Wharton, Finance Minister Cameron Friesen and an entourage of provincial officials arrived in Flin Flon Jan. 14 for a meeting with community business leaders and municipal officials. Flin Flon was the third stop on a one-day whistle-stop tour by the provincial delegation, which also visited Churchill and Thompson earlier Sunday before heading back to Winnipeg.
Regional concerns were the topic of the day at the meeting, which was closed to the media and the general public. The meeting lasted for about 30 minutes, and all sides left satisfied that they had been understood.
“Economic activity in the north and the new Look North initiative are of very, very big interest to people living in the north. The fact that we now have local stakeholders that are going to be in the subcommittees throughout Look North, working in partnership with our communities, I think it’s going to make a wonderful difference for people here,” said Wharton.
Flin Flon mayor Cal Huntley said the meeting covered several of the same topics mentioned during the consultation process of the Look North Task Force and at November’s Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) meeting in Brandon.
Among the subjects discussed were potential hikes in hydroelectricity costs, changes in provincial and municipal base taxes and how to involve outlying areas in municipal matters.
“We talked about Manitoba Hydro, we talked about the base tax and we talked about the outlying areas and a formula that allow them to participate in their local communities,” said Huntley.
“The Hydro one is big. That’s huge,” he said.
Huntley downplayed the discussions surrounding outlying area involvement, saying the conversation did not refer specifically to cottage subdivisions near Flin Flon and adding the discussion was first brought up at November’s AMM meeting.
“I want to make clear that I’m not reigniting a fire here. Everybody’s aware that I’ve been lobbying provincially and consistent around that. We want them to help us find a solution. As Ken mentioned, they’re the landlords,” said Huntley.
“All communities in AMM are feeling the same way. It’s actually right across the whole province. There’s the same situation everywhere.”
Wharton touted the results and ongoing consultation through Look North and with northern communities, saying the talks have helped steer the provincial government’s actions.
“You’ve got people that are here day after day, they know what’s going on. They know the needs of the north, they know the needs of Flin Flon, Thompson, Churchill, The Pas and on and on. It’s a very exciting time,” he said.
“Even though we’re all north, every community has it’s own needs and requirements.”
When asked how receptive the provincial delegation was, Huntley’s reaction was positive.
“I think they were very receptive. It was nice to speak with them so quickly after AMM, that was in late November. It’s not even been two months and they’re here visiting us. That’s a good indicator that they are interested,” he said.
“Any of the anecdotal conversation afterwards was reasonably supportive. It leads me to believe that we may eventually get some resolve to these issues.”
Huntley hopes the visit could lead to more ministerial visits to Flin Flon in the future – maybe even leading to another official provincial visit.
“At some point in time, we’d like to have the Premier up here as well, too. Hopefully he’ll make the circuit and come and visit and we can show him around and show him what we’ve got,” he said.
