"Pre-budget consultations" might not be the most exciting term in this newspaper, but it's one which is occupying all three levels of government these days.
Federally, Steven Fletcher, minister of state for democratic reform, was in Thompson in late January, where he met with community groups including the City of Thompson and Thompson Chamber of Commerce for their views on what they would like to see in the upcoming federal budget.
Provincially, Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk will be at St. John's United Church tomorrow night to solicit public input on Manitoba's 2011 budget.
Municipally, the first public input session has already been held, but if Muhammad won't go to the mountain - the turnout for the Jan. 20 session at R.D Parker Collegiate was even more dismal than in previous years - the mountain must come to Muhammad, and therefore Mayor Tim Johnston has pledged to meet with interested community members and groups whenever and wherever they are available.
"What we're doing tonight is a requirement of the Municipal Act, but obviously this isn't cutting it," said Johnston at the meeting. "It's always a challenge for the city to provide opportunities in order to gain feedback from the community."
"If there are community organizations out there that would like to see council approach them and provide this presentation, we would certainly welcome that opportunity - whether it's the Chamber of Commerce, service clubs, other provincial agencies, or whomever," he continued. "Council really does care about the community, we really do care about receiving feedback from the community, and we really are interested in working with the community to make a better Thompson. Whatever manner we can do that in, we're open." The final draft of the budget will be brought forward in April.
"I urge the public to get involved, I even challenge the public to get involved," said Johnston. "It's not good enough to only show up when you have an issue. If we want to minimize those meetings where we have a rousing crowd because people are upset about what's happening, then let's all get involved at this part of the equation."
