Local dignitaries had a chance to ask questions and voice their concerns about challenges Flin Flon faces during the Association of Manitoba Municipalities annual convention last month.
Mayor Cal Huntley, councillors Karen MacKinnon and Ken Pawlachuk along with new CAO Glenna Daschuk attended the convention, which ran from Nov 27 to 29 in Brandon.
Huntley said the group had an opportunity to meet with four provincial ministers, including those who are responsible for growth, enterprise and trade, municipal relations, and health.
“We talked about reestablishing investor confidence in the north, and some sort of potential incentives that would encourage more exploration to take place in the mining industry,” said Huntley.
“We talked about the potential negative affects of dramatically increasing hydro prices – commercially, but even locally. It puts a large onus … on places like Vale and Hudbay, and makes business untenable. It’s making the call on losing high paying jobs that pay taxes and support.”
Huntley is confident representatives from Flin Flon drove the message home.
“They heard us,” he said.
Also discussed was the issue of seniors’ and core housing – Flin Flon is home to a number of people who want to retire where they live, and Huntley said it is important that the community have the facilities to support both active seniors and those who require assisted living.
“They were very receptive to everything,” said Huntley.
“They understood what we were talking about. They seem to be … on the same page, at least with what we were talking about, and they seem to understand the reasonableness of it. At the end of the day, we’ll have to see what actually comes from the province [in terms of] actual support.”
Hudbay’s expected closure in 2020 was also discussed, as was the concept of a base tax for outlying areas to support nearby communities. Additionally, Huntley said the group discussed the procedures around byelections when a sitting councillor decides to run in a provincial election, something this council faced when former councillor Leslie Beck ran as a Liberal candidate in the 2016 provincial election. As it stands, if a councillor loses in the provincial election and wishes to remain on council, a byelection is required. Huntley said that byelections are costly, and neighbouring provinces don’t require them.
Marijuana legislation was discussed as a broad topic with all participating municipalities at the convention. Huntley said there were many concerns among the group.
“Nobody has worked out any of the details about how the communities are going to share in the tax revenue that should come from it,” said Huntley.
Locally, council is concerned about how the substance will be controlled and enforced.
“One of the biggest concerns around this is initial dollars generated through tax. We believe there are going to be social repercussions – how will these be addressed?”
Municipalities have until Dec. 22 to decide whether they will allow the sale of marijuana. The issue was not discussed during the Dec. 5 committee of the whole meeting or regular council meeting.
Huntley said all of the ministers that representatives from Flin Flon met with were invited to come to Flin Flon to experience the city first hand.
