Town Council members attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Conference in Regina from June 2 to 5 in Regina. The conference combined both in-person attendance and remote access from home for participants for the first one since 2019 due to COVID. The conference, themed Together for Recovery, provided the opportunity for the Town’s councilors and mayor to network and connect with municipalities from across the country and discuss strategies for improving during the economic recovery.
Mayor Greg Throndson found the networking and contacts made during the four-day event highly beneficial to his role as Mayor. Connecting with other municipalities the same size as Vermilion and larger centres provided opportunities to see the issues that are affecting communities across the country. Mayor Throndson found the four tours that delegates were able to attend very informative, especially Regina’s city landfill and its methane gas capturing, as well as the information provided regarding Cultivator Powered by Conexus, a credit union in Saskatchewan that focuses on start-ups in the province.
Another highlight for councilors was the chance to connect with incoming FCM President Taneen Rudyk a councilor from Vegreville. To have a voice from not only Alberta but also a community that experiences the same sort of struggles as any rural Alberta municipality could have a positive impact on small towns.
“The past two years have only emphasized how important our communities are, both to our economy and our quality of life,” said incoming FCM President Taneen Rudyk. “Building stronger, more inclusive and more resilient communities everywhere in Canada is possible, but it will require unprecedented partnership among orders of government to tackle our biggest national issues, like our country’s housing crisis. And municipalities are ready to do their part.”
The conference played host to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities Dominic LeBlanc, Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, CPC MP and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Communities Andrew Scheer, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in a series of keynote addresses and meetings.
There was also the opportunity to attend a trade show and numerous workshops focused on crucial municipal issues like housing affordability and rural growth—among others.