The mayors of Manitoba’s cities met in Winnipeg earlier this week, during the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) Annual Convention, to re-establish priorities for the coming year.
According to the Chair of the AMM Cities Caucus, City of Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen, having an organized group that works within the auspices of the AMM works well. “Cities share similar issues and collectively we can all benefit from an organized forum to share our specific concerns and find ways to lobby for the things our cities need,” he said. “We are stronger together.”
Issues deemed top-priority at earlier meetings continue to be a focus, primarily infrastructure and policing. Rounding out the list of critical issues for cities is the need to find alternate sources of revenue.
AMM President Doug Dobrowolski explains: “Infrastructure affects each one of us on a daily basis, and the constant struggle to finance much-needed infrastructure projects with one source of revenue – property taxes – really impacts growth in our cities,” he said. “And public safety – particularly funding the protective services our cities need – is a problem that just continues to grow in severity.”
The AMM is one of the only municipal associations in Canada representing all municipalities, and speaking with one united voice is a winning formula according to Dobrowolski. But, “we also recognize there can be great benefit for communities that share common ground to join forces. That is what the Cities Caucus is about.”
