AMM Nears In Brandon

Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak and the city council will be among more than 500 municipal leaders in Brandon next week for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities Spring Convention and Trade Show.

The two-day event runs from Tuesday to Thursday at the Keystone Centre. It's an opportunity for all municipal leaders and senior administration staff to get together to discuss issues of common concern. The convention features a dynamic program focused on professional development, municipal governance, and emerging policy priorities. There is also a trade show that features more than 130 vendors.

"The most significant part of AMM for me is to talk to the other mayors and city managers to get a sense of how they're dealing with issues and concerns affecting all of us," said Bosiak. "To try and get some ideas, best practices, and share common issues and concerns."

Bosiak says positive things come out of AMM every year. Some issues David is looking to speak about with other municipalities are homelessness, addictions, and mental health challenges that are very apparent in Dauphin.

He says this is something that all smaller and larger municipalities are dealing with the same issues.

"Our approach has always been to work with our community partners," added Bosiak. "Whether that's the Northwest Metis Council, is to work with Prairie Mountain Health, and all of the government agencies, especially the department of homelessness and housing. We know that as the weather warms up, people tend to be out and about more. We have a concern with some funding shortfalls."

The Waskaa’igan Neegan Safe & Warm Space in Dauphin recently lost some funding. As a result, the Warm Space is no longer operating 24 hours, seven days a week. The Space is now open from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Monday to Friday. It will remain open 24 hours every weekend, closing on Mondays at 8:00 a.m.

In a post, the Federation said they understand this change may create challenges for the individuals who use the facility regularly.

"Not having a place for some of these folks to go during the day becomes an issue," added Bosiak. "If they're not at the Safe Warm Space, they're elsewhere in the community. A lot of that is certainly appropriate, but some of it may not be. That's what we're dealing with right now. We're working as hard as possible on coming up with solutions right now."

While Bosiak and his council will bring up their issues next week, there is plenty to be optimistic about in the community and plenty of reason to smile.

Bosiak says the City's partnership with the Rural Municipality of Dauphin is in a great space. Last year, they came together to create a recreation agreement, which Bosiak is thrilled about.

The Nortgate Trails Group received $1.5 million in funding.

"To work on the partnership with Riding Mountain National Park on the redevelopment of the Crawford Creek trail system, which sort of bumps up our trail network to over 75 kilometres," continued Bosiak. "That's massive from a community and economic development standpoint."

The City and RM look forward to working as 50/50 partners on the Justice Centre coming to Dauphin, which will be a tremendous addition for the community.

Bosiak says the spinoffs to that will be generational for the community.

"So the return of the workers, their spouses, that will repopulate some of those jobs that left when the jail closed," said Bosiak. "The return of kids to the school system. You know, we're going to have an overwhelming amount of construction labour occurring over the next two to three years. So we're looking forward to having our hotels and restaurants full of workers."

On top of those positives, it's always great to shine the light on the great work being done putting together Canada's National Ukrainian Festival and Dauphin's Countryfest. CNUF celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, and it was a fantastic success.

The lineup this year is electric for Countryfest. It includes Jelly Roll, Nate Smith, Tyler Hubbard, Cameron Whitcomb, Owen Riegling, and the Hunter Brothers, to name a few. VIP weekend passes have long been sold out, as have three campgrounds.

General admission weekend passes are still up for grabs, but are selling quicker than ever.

"It looks like it's going to be a tremendous year for them. That's so important," commented Bosiak. "We all know the impact that Countryfest has made in the community. You can look around and see all the things that are so important, and they played a big part in developing. To have them get back in that kind of position is good for us."

While Bosiak will not seek re-election as the City of Dauphin's Mayor, he said it's been a pleasure working with positive people. While there have been challenges around the council table, they always have serious and thoughtful conversations.

Over the past three and a half years, the council has had unanimous decisions on all major issues.

"And that doesn't mean everyone is just falling in line, it means we put the time and effort on the front end to discuss and figure out what's important," offered Bosiak. "Then we can sort of convince the others that this is the right thing to do now."

Bosiak has looked at other municipalities in Manitoba and the country and has noticed dysfunction in many communities due to very serious disagreements or issues.