2007 Saskatchewan Municipal Awards

The excitement of the first annual Saskatchewan Municipal Awards program came to a head on Friday, May 25, at the awards announcement luncheon at the Delta Regina Hotel. Over 110 people from across the province attended, all eager to find out which finalists would win the awards.

Keith Comstock, Municipal Affairs Executive-Director of Strategy and Stakeholder Relations, acted as the Master of Ceremonies for the event. Ron Barss Manager of Customer and Market Services for SaskWater, opened the event by bringing greetings from our luncheon sponsor. Mr. Barss’ remarks were followed by a delicious meal.

 

Councillor Michael Fougere then brought greetings from the City of Regina. Things really got underway when the MC came to the microphone after lunch to introduce the first category. As Municipal Affairs sponsored the Municipal Service Excellence category, the Minister came forward to comment on the program and introduce the finalists.

Municipal Service Excellence
The winner of the 2007 Municipal Service Excellence award was the RM of Britannia for their “Full Depth Subgrade Strengthening of Roadways”. The runner-up in this category was the RM of Canwood No. 494, with the Villages of Debden and Canwood, for their “Regional Landfill Construction”.

Economic Development Leadership
Conexus was the proud sponsor of the Economic Development Leadership category. Mr. Adrian Legin, Executive Vice-President of Retail Delivery for Conexus, presented the award. The winner of the 2007 Economic Development Leadership award was the RM of Edenwold No. 158, for the “Development of Long-Term Development Plan and Bylaws”. The RM of White Valley and the Town of Eastend were the runners-up for their “Tourism Development”.

Regional Leadership and Partnerships
SUMA and SARM co-sponsored the Regional Leadership and Partnerships category. Barry Gunther, SUMA’s Vice-President for Villages, and David Marit, President of SARM co-presented the award. The RM of Gull Lake No. 139 with their “Cooperation for Growth” initiative was the winner of the 2007 Regional Leadership and Partnerships award. The RM of White Valley and the Town of Eastend were also the runners-up in this category.

Community Leadership
The Community Leadership awards were presented by Don McCallum, President of RMAA, and Michele Schmidt, President of UMAAS. The RMs of Browning, Moose Creek, Benson, and Cymri were the winners of the 2007 Community Leadership award. The Town of Leroy was the runner-up for the Community Leadership award.

Judges’ Award
The final award of the event was the Judges’ Award, which was presented by Paul Martin, who was the chair of the program selection committee. The selection committee created this award to recognize a particular municipal practice. The winner of the award was the Town of Kipling, which won because of their innovative use of the publicity brought to them through the “Red Paper Clip Project”.

Everyone who attended had a wonderful time, and one thing seems clear…the 2007 Saskatchewan Municipal Awards were a big hit! The program organizers hope that many municipalities will consider applying to the program and show-off the innovative and progressive things they are doing every day.

The next step for the program was to take the submissions from the winners and runners-up and make them available online for all municipal leaders to review. These submissions were the first additions to a new municipal Best Practices website. Check out the Photo Gallery for pictures of the event.