Thompson once again has a strong voice at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), but not all councillors are happy about it.
Coun. Erin Stewart travelled to the FCM's 73rd annual conference and municipal expo, held in Toronto in late May. She was accompanied on the trip by city manager Randy Patrick. At the conference, Stewart was named to the FCM national board of directors - she will also serve on five other FCM committees: the opening committee of the whole, the prairies and territories regional caucus, the standing committee on community safety and crime prevention, the Northern and remote forum, and the standing committee on social-economic development.
Stewart's expanded role in FCM necessitates her traveling to FCM meetings such as the one being held in Iqaluit between Aug. 30 and Sept. 2. This was a point of contention at the Aug. 16 city council meeting, as council was asked to approve her attendance at the Iqaluit meeting.
"I feel that sending someone at this time is just too costly for the budget," said Coun. Stella Locker, the lone vote against the resolution. Locker added that her comments were not meant as any sort of personal slight against Stewart, but simply that she didn't think the cost of sending her to Iqaluit and similar meetings is worth the strain on the budget.
Coun. Judy Kolada, who along with Locker opposed Stewart's standing for the FCM board in the first place - "I didn't support Coun. Stewart's standing based on the cost and based on her lack of experience," she said Aug. 16 - voted in favour of sending Stewart to Iqaluit, noting that "democracy ruled" in the prior vote, and that since Stewart was now on the board, she should be going to the board meetings. Kolada also expressed satisfaction that Stewart's travel costs were coming out of the mayor's travel budget, rather than funds set aside for council.
"The benefits we experienced from the last time we were represented were huge," countered Coun. Oswald Sawh. "[We got] everything from funds for our drug strategy to representation at the federal level you have to judge it based on the benefits it brings to Thompson."
For her part, Stewart said that "the City of Thompson has a lot to benefit from lobbying the federal government. I think Thompson deserves the respect of being recognized on the board."
"We do need a national seat and a national voice," agreed Coun. Charlene Lafreniere, who was chairing the council meeting in the absence of Mayor Tim Johnston, who was attending the Northern Association of Community Councils annual meeting and tradeshow in Winnipeg, and Deputy Mayor Harold Smith.
Stewart was first elected to council in the city's most recent byelection, held on Dec. 9, 2009. She beat out four other candidates vying to replace Cory Young, who resigned from council in September 2009 to accept a job in Winnipeg. Stewart won with 218 out of 673 votes cast.
"I feel that representation at the Association of Manitoban Municipalities is sufficient because they cover costs," said Locker. Thompson's involvement in the Association of Manitoban Municipalities (AMM) comes primarily in the form of Coun. Oswald Sawh, who is a Northern director for that group. Seniors members of the Portage la Prairie-based AMM, including president Doug Dobrowolski, were in Thompson in May for a "municipal visit".
While in Montreal, Stewart attended two workshops. The first of these was titled "A case for partnership: Tackling street gangs and organized crime in our communities," and featured speakers including senior police officers from Toronto and Montreal. At this workshop, a program officer from the National Crime Prevention Centre encouraged Thompson to contact NCPC officials in Winnipeg for more information on potential funding available through the Youth Gang Prevention Fund.
The second workshop was on the theme of "Making user fees workfor your community and the environment." Stewart reported to council that "it focused on taxing 'goods', not 'bads', and making markets work for the environment." Stewart also attended a series of policy forums on subjects such as municipal finance and intergovernmental arrangements, community safety and crime prevention, and Northern and remote communities.
"It was my first time going to such a conference, and it was a great opportunity for networking and finding out what's going on with other municipal governments," said Stewart, concluding that future involvement with FCM is in Thompson's best interests.
Stewart's Manitoban peers on the FCM board include Dobrowolski, as well as delegates from Winnipeg, Winkler, and St. Andrews. The current FCM president is Hans Cunningham of Kootenay, B.C., replacing Summerside, PEI's Basil Stewart.
The FCM claims it has "been the national voice of municipal government since 1901," though the group was only founded in 1937 (informal national meetings of municipal leaders do date back to 1901). It represents 1,775 municipalities across the country.
