Help could soon be on the way for businesses affected by the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border.
The Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce announced that meetings would be held with the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce and Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce regarding cross-border co-operation.
After discussing how the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border affects local businesses at their last meeting on Nov. 28, the topic of cross-border co-operation came up again at the chamber’s Dec. 12 meeting.
Both the provincial chamber and Lloydminster chamber were first alerted to Flin Flon’s border issues by a story in the Dec. 6 issue of The Reminder.
As the larger of the two Canadian cities to straddle a provincial border, Lloydminster has faced similar issues to the sort Flin Flon businesses report.
“My take on this is that it’s absolutely constant that this issue continues to control our region and limit what we do. Lloydminster has dealt with it and we keep thinking we need to reinvent the wheel. I think this is a great first step. I think it will be a great conversation,” said Dianne Russell, past president of the Flin Flon chamber.
Russell and Flin Flon chamber members were overwhelmingly in favour of holding the discussions, which were set to take place on Dec. 15. Members also discussed alerting Manitoba Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Chuck Davidson, a former Snow Lake resident who served with Russell on the provincial government-supported Look North
Task Force.
“It seems to me that their border issue was solved many, many, many years ago,” said Colleen McKee, former chamber executive board member, regarding Lloydminster.
“I’m sure that going
forward they still have issues, but obviously they’ll know about the Saskatchewan government. It’ll be interesting to know how they got to where
they are.”
The provincial border running through Flin Flon doesn’t just create an administrative headache for local businesses, many of which operate on both sides of the border. Services and companies with customers on both sides are often able to take advantage of incentives from only one province, not two.
Discussions with outside service providers, including telecommunications companies, health care providers and government services can also be complicated by the border.
In addition, Saskatchewan residents who rely on Flin Flon-
based services, including medical treatment, are sometimes unable to access services when needed.
Russell shared a story with chamber members about a Saskatchewan woman who was unable to receive vital medical care in Flin Flon, being told instead to head to Saskatoon for treatment.
“There was a young girl who had to go to hospital in Saskatoon by order of her doctor here and her doctor in Saskatoon. Of course, Manitoba wouldn’t pay for it. So there’s a young mom whose daughter is having seizures, and what the hospital did was drug her [daughter] up until she was almost passed out and asked her to put her daughter in her own car and drive to Saskatoon,” said Russell.
McKee added another story of a Creighton-based family who was also unable to access medical treatment.
“I know a woman, her daughter broke her leg and she had to put her in the back of her van and drive her to Saskatoon. She was from Creighton,” she said.
“These are some of the issues that affect us as a border town – our hospital services both sides,” added Russell.
“What I would like to see is that border becoming an advantage, instead of a disadvantage. Is it just a shift in thinking, or is it the governments need to be co-operative? To create a radius around our community and say that we can access anything,” said McKee.
While the details can become hazy and convoluted quickly, Russell is hopeful that the kinks can be ironed out.
“It’s moving forward, this issue. We’ve been talking about it for how long and we can now turn it into an advantage,”
she said.
