The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association wrapped up their annual convention Wednesday morning, with the chance for delegates to sit in on sessions with specific members of the provincial cabinet, and then the bear pit session, where the delegates would get the chance to put questions and comments to the cabinet as a whole. 

Weyburn Mayor Marcel Roy was one of those who were in attendance at the convention, which started Sunday with the Mayor’s Caucus, and a speaker series about sustainable growth of cities. He said throughout most of the convention, and during the sessions with the provincial ministers, there was a key theme from the delegates.

“The stories we have heard all the way through - infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure,” Roy emphasized. “Trying to deliver good clean water to the people; right from the top of the province all the way down, there are problems all the way through.”

One of the key topics during the bear pit session was that of mental health, and funding mental health. 

“That was a main concern of a lot of the small communities, the northern communities,” Roy said. Many of those communities were calling on the province to increase mental health funding and support.

Some of the delegates pointed out how the province has the lowest expenditures on mental health and addiction in the country, as trying to be fiscally responsible with the lowest debt per capita in the country has gone too far with cutting other services.

Health Minister Jim Reiter said mental health and addictions isn’t something the province is worried about spending money on and hinted there could be more coming in the provincial budget, which is slated to be released next month.

Other topics that were discussed at the bear pit session included the ongoing labour dispute between Unifor and Federated Co-op and pipelines in Saskatchewan.

For Roy, one topic which piqued his interest during the sessions held throughout the convention was an idea brought up by the village of Fox Valley, located near Maple Creek.

“They’re going to start incinerating a lot of their landfill usage, and that is a way to greatly cut back on how much stuff is being put into the landfill,” Roy said. 

The Weyburn mayor pointed out it is something he would like to explore as a potential option for the Weyburn area.

One other key thing to come out of the SUMA convention was the change in name for the organization. Going forward, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association will be known as Municipalities of Saskatchewan, the decision made during the AGM portion of the convention.