Rural politicians meet to ponder everything from deer to clubroot
Rural politicians will converge on Regina this week to discuss garbage, cyber-security and an exploding population of mule deer — and to hear an address from Premier Scott Moe.
That’s what’s on the agenda at this year’s Saskatchewan Association of Urban Municipalities fourday annual convention, which begins Tuesday. On Wednesday, Government Relations Minister Warren Kaeding will be the first cabinet member to speak to the assembly of reeves, councillors and administrators from across the province. A SaskTel manager of digital forensics will follow him that same day, to provide a year-inreview of cyber threats.
Delegates are likely to pay special attention during Thursday sessions with two government experts. Plant disease specialist Barb Ziesman will talk clubroot, an ever-present threat to canola. Then B. Craig Abernathy will give a presentation on the province’s solid waste management strategy.
Solid waste woes made an appearance during Moe’s leadership campaign, when he promised to review the province’s landfill policy. Rural areas, villages and towns have complained about provincial standards that are forcing them to shut down their dumps.
Moe’s speech is billed for Friday at 9:30 a.m. Delegates will then have the chance to heap questions on members of his cabinet during a bear-pit session later that morning.
Delegates have already submitted 26 resolutions on a range of issues, from support for volunteer firefighters to weed control; two seek more flexible environmental standards. Four separate resolutions on clubroot are on the agenda.
Animal disease is also an area of concern. The Rural Municipality of Terrell wants SARM to push the province to require reporting of Chronic Wasting Disease in mule deer to municipalities.
Together with two other RMs, Terrell’s council is concerned that the mule deer population has “increased dramatically.” They say the animals are causing “extensive damage” to hay stacks and cropped land. Their proposal: open season on mule deer in Saskatchewan.
Just like at last month’s Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention, money is also a major worry. In the proposed resolutions, rural municipalities are pushing for rebates on sales tax and grant funding for decommissioning dugouts and dams.