Moe irked minister didn’t pay a visit
Minister tells convention province mulling legislation to ease intervention
Three months after ordering a rare inspection of a northern village’s governance practices, the Saskatchewan government is sending a signal to municipalities about the importance of transparency and accountability.
Government Minister Warren Kaeding stopped short of characterizing a total of seven such inspections over the last 20 years as a problem, but said the province is nevertheless considering legislative amendments to make it easier for his office to step in.
“Some of these changes may involve strengthening ministerial authority to address actions that are outside of what the legislation permits,” Kaeding told the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities’ annual convention in Saskatoon on Tuesday.
Those changes could also include enabling his office to act on reports and recommendations from the province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner or the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, Kaeding said in his 18-minute speech.
Two of the seven inspections Kaeding referenced were ordered last year.
In August, his office ordered that the R.M. of Mckillop north of Regina be inspected amid concerns about multiple issues, including the municipality’s taxation policy. The R.M. is currently under the authority of a government-appointed supervisor.
Four months later, Kaeding was again forced to intervene in a municipality’s affairs and order an inspection, this time amid growing concern about the application of the province’s freedom of information laws by the Northern Village of Pinehouse.
On Tuesday, however, Kaeding downplayed those interventions. He “wouldn’t consider (municipal compliance) to be a problem,” he said. “Certainly when you hear about non-compliance it’s a newsworthy issue but we’ve got 773 municipalities in the province; we’ve had to act seven times.
“… I think that’s fairly rare,” he continued.
“I think that’s just part of what the province and taxpayers, ratepayers are asking for — just to ensure that they’ve got good governance in front of them and good leadership in their communities,” he added.
SARM President Ray Orb also stopped short of acknowledging a problem, but said he would prefer that the government never have to look into any municipality over allegations of non-compliance with legislation.
He said SARM and its counterpart, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, are working with the province to encourage municipal leaders to take training on issues such as conflict-of-interest policy.
“People need to know what the rules are,” Orb said.
Under the new municipal revenue sharing formula, which kicks in for the 2019-20 fiscal year and will pay out a total of $251 million, $1.5 million is contingent on municipalities complying with their governing legislation.
Premier Scott Moe is expected to make announcements related to agricultural water management and rural infrastructure funding at the convention, which is attended by around 2,000 delegates, on Tuesday.