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Mayor, city manager provide list of local concerns to provincial ministers during Winnipeg meetings

Mayor Colleen Smook and city manager Anthony McInnis met with three provincial ministers while attending an Association of Manitoba Municipalities meeting in Winnipeg earlier this week, discussing various topics of concern to the City of Thompson.
colleen smook chamber of commerce feb 2019
Mayor Colleen Smook, seen here speaking to the Thompson Chamber of Commerce in February, and city manager Anthony McInnis met with the provincial ministers of municipal relations, Crown services and trade while in Winnipeg for Association of Manitoba Municipalities meetings earlier this week.

Mayor Colleen Smook and city manager Anthony McInnis met with three provincial ministers while attending an Association of Manitoba Municipalities meeting in Winnipeg earlier this week, discussing various topics of concern to the City of Thompson.

On March 18, the pair met with Municipal Relations Minister Jeff Wharton as well as Thompson MLA Kelly Bindle, outlining infrastructure challenges that the city faces during the construction season, as well as the spike in water breaks that they are seeing this spring and why continued support for water and sewer main renewal from the Manitoba Water Services Board is vital. Other topics discussed included the city’s opinion that third-party assessors undervalue Thompson properties, which affects the ability to raise revenue for operations through property taxes. Smook and McInnis also explained the situation regarding the shuttered Norplex Pool and why provincial support is needed if they are to establish a new pool in Thompson as soon as possible.

Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen also met with the mayor and city manager, who appealed to him about providing mining communities with access to money in the Mining Communities Reserve Fund and explained how the lending moratorium on the Communities Economic Development Fund that has been in place since 2016 makes it harder for northern entrepreneurs to raise start-up capital for new businesses. The issue of provincial jobs going unfilled in Thompson and slowing down service delivery in key departments was also discussed.

Smook and McInnis also met with Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer to discuss the possibility of limiting the operating hours of the Thompson Liquor Mart as well as the Main Street North concept, which they encouraged her department to support where possible.

“We’re very happy with the relationship we’ve been able to establish with the province of Manitoba since our new council took office in October 2018," said Smook in a city update posted on social media. “Our work together is only beginning, but our meetings, as well as recent announcements for improved dialysis care and renewed infrastructure funding, show that out needs are starting to be heard.”

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