Minister Government Relations Don McMorris
The Town of Lumsden’s Mayor, Bryan Matheson, is also on the Municipalities of Saskatchewan/Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association Board of Directors.
The name change has been a source of dispute with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) and the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) as SUMA is in the process of rebranding under the new name, “Municipalities of Saskatchewan (MOS).”
At SUMA’s 2020 convention, a resolution to begin talks to amalgamate with SARM under one Association was defeated. SUMA’s Board of Director’s presented delegates the proposed name change.
A 2020 emergent resolution on SARM’s website states that they have no interest in pursuing amalgamation. SARM began lobbying the government and the municipalities for their support to reject the name change.
In his speech to MOS delegates, Minister McMorris said, “From my perspective and what I’ve been hearing over and over again from both urban and rural but in particularly rural. Some of the concerns that have been raised by both rural municipalities and their representative organization SARM. It certainly has caused some concern and some frustration in the name change. I have asked our MLA’s to do some work and hear what they’re hearing from their local municipalities...I would ask that SUMA or the Municipalities of Saskatchewan reconsider the rebranding or the name change that they have put forward.”
When contacted by the Last Mountain Times, President of SARM, Ray Orb, said the change of name infers it represents all Municipalities in Saskatchewan and is confusing to organizations outside of Saskatchewan.
He said that SARM wants what the Minister and the Premier have said, “That they want SUMA to do a proper consultation. That’s what we’ve been supporting too,” adding that SARM wants to be part of the consultation. He said they heard the former President of MOS, Gordon Barnhart, say quite a few times in the media that he was in support of amalgamation and even though SUMA hasn’t said that, the move to change the name feels like it a step towards it.
Matheson was asked about SARM’s perception surrounding amalgamation, “The intent is certainly not by Municipalities of Saskatchewan or SUMA to amalgamate,” said Matheson.
At the Town of Lumsden council meeting Councillor Byron Tumbach raised McMorris’ comments, saying that he was “a little disappointed with what came out of the Minister’s mouth asking our Association to reconsider in an open forum like that. Personally, I think we should move beyond this and move forward and deal with the issues that are facing our municipalities. This is something that really needs to be put away”. He wished Mayor Matheson the best of luck trying to manage the issue with his position on the Board of Directors in MOS. “This is not going away, and I don’t know how it’s going to get fixed.”
Responding to Councillor Tumbach’s comment, Mayor Matheson said, “The Minister was not at all appreciated. I think he was an invited guest to come and talk to our delegates and our conference, and for him to try and tell us how to run our business, I think he was way out of line. It’s definitely...I wished it would go to bed, but it’s not going to for at least another year. It’s a controversial topic to start with. I mean, it’s really only a name. One of the people had said it’s so little, but it’s something that the RM’s have taken umbrage on it, and they have done a lot better job with the government and petitioning the Ministers than we have done in our own Association. Some of it is self-induced in my mind. You will hear a lot more on it in the next short while.”
Orb said, “We had had a good relationship with SUMA as far as inter-municipal co-operation. We have lots of RM’s, towns and villages that do work together. We are trying to foster that kind of relationship, and we are not talking about amalgamation, but we’ve always said that if there are RM’s that want to amalgamate, that’s certainly their privilege.”
Director Matheson said they are in early stages of considering a plan for a consultation process to address the name change, which would occur over the next year and be brought forward at the 2022 convention.
Municipalities of Saskatchewan represent 443 urban governments in Saskatchewan, including cities, towns, villages, resort villages and northern municipalities. Each government has a locally elected council.
The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities represents 296 rural governments in Saskatchewan.
Jennifer Argue, Civic Reporter, LMT - Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Note: These reports are abridged for content