Fines for public drunkenness, reimbursement for highway calls and the base tax are on the list of resolutions Flin Flon city council will forward to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) general meeting.
Council put their heads together during the March 6 meeting of council to discuss the resolutions.
“AMM resolutions are our opportunity to approach all the other municipalities in Manitoba and see whether they’ll support the position the resolution is for,” said Mayor Cal Huntley.
“If they pass, then the AMM supports that resolution and lobbies the government for the change suggested by that resolution.”
Council discussed the concept of public drunkenness having a fine attached to it – such a fine has already been implemented in Saskatchewan.
“The RCMP have indicated one of the [things] missing in the Manitoba laws is there is no fine for public drunkenness,” said Huntley.
“On the Saskatchewan side, if you’re publicly drunk there’s a provincial fine attached to a schedule…we house a fair amount of them on occasion and there’s no repercussions.”
Council also discussed the amount MPI reimburses the city when the fire department responds to highway calls.
“The resolution should basically state that we will do this, but you need to cover our cost,” said Coun. Bill Hanson.
“When somebody calls for the jaws of life and we sent the rescue truck out, sometimes our costs could be between $3,500 to $4,000. They have a flat rate that doesn’t cover our costs.”
Fire chief Chad Cooper said the fire department will respond to all motor vehicle accidents within city limits. Outside city limits, the fire department will respond if the vehicle is on fire, extrication is required, or there are other life-threatening hazards such as downed power lines or a vehicle submerged in water.
Cooper said MPI will not reimburse the city for the cost of responding to highway calls if the vehicle is uninsured or if the driver is impaired.
Council also discussed a resolution around a base tax – something several communities have supported in the past.
“This base tax is one we’ve been lobbying for a long time,” said Huntley.
“We use the special services levy right now. What we would prefer is to have the opportunity to have an all-in base tax so every home in the community pays their fair share of services that are supplied to each and every property.”
Huntley said the resolution has already been largely supported at AMM.
“We’re hoping this government may take a different tack, and we’re working very hard and hoping that takes place. But there’s no real skin in the game for them that we can see, because, as in Saskatchewan, the individual municipality has that in their tool bag, but they would implement it as the municipal government. We would take the heat if it was felt by all our citizens that it wasn’t a good thing to do.”
