The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The 242 residents of Flin Flon, Sask., have long languished in a sort of no manÕs land. They are governed by the City of Flin Flon, a municipality with the vast majority of its citizens in Manitoba. But when it comes time to seek provincial dollars for much-needed infrastructure projects, they must rely on the Saskatchewan government. Unfortunately, Flin Flon, Sask., was never recognized as a Northern Saskatchewan Municipality, a title that would turn on the taps to potential funding from its home province. Instead it remained whatÕs called a Òboundary areaÓ and received little attention from those holding the purse strings in Regina. Fortunately, the new government of Premier Brad Wall has recognized the colossal inequality of this situation. Recently, the legislature gave second reading to bill amendments granting the appropriate status to this portion of Flin Flon. Flin Flon, Sask., residents pay Saskatchewan taxes and vote in Saskatchewan elections. They deserve the same shot at Saskatchewan funding as anyone else in the province. As Minister of Municipal Affairs Bill Hutchinson aptly put it, ÒThe changes our government is proposing are about fair treatment for all residents and municipalities in SaskatchewanÕs north, allowing people to realize their potential as our provincial economy continues to grow.Ó The sad part is that it has taken so long Ð decades, in fact Ð for a provincial government to finally step up to the plate for Flin Flon, Sask. In the meantime, those 242 residents have paid the price. Talk to people who live on South Hudson Street, which makes up much of the Saskatchewan portion of the city, and theyÕll tell you how badly a new lift station is needed to resolve their low water pressure. Take a drive down South Hudson and youÕll see the need for road work. The City of Flin Flon has been aware of these problems but could not afford to take action on its own. City Hall could only lobby Saskatchewan and hope its arguments for fairness would not fall on deaf ears. The forthcoming recognition of Flin Flon, Sask., is one of those all-too-rare instances of a government doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing. Premier WallÕs Saskatchewan Party government knows it will gain very little political mileage from helping 242 people, and it knows it has no chance of winning the NDP-dominated Cumberland constituency in which those individuals reside. Of course when it finally does become a Northern Saskatchewan Municipality, thereÕs no guarantee Flin Flon, Sask., will be ringing the cash register. But it will at least be in the running for those precious provincial dollars. LetÕs just hope that it will not face monetary discrimination because of its small size or political loyalties. Local Angle runs Fridays.
