Weyburn’s mayor, Marcel Roy, along with city councillors Brad Wheler and Mel Van Betuw, returned Monday from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meetings in Halifax. There, the trio took in a number of workshops, trade shows, and keynote speakers such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

A number of the discussions between the delegates from across Canada came back to one topic, according to Roy.

“All the municipalities, all across Canada, are having issues with provincial governments downloading responsibilities and not following through with financial payment to them,” Roy explained shortly after arriving back in Saskatchewan.

Infrastructure talk was also key for those who were in attendance. Roy pointed out large centres like Calgary have received upwards of $1.3 billion towards the upgrading of various infrastructures such as light rail lines. For smaller communities like Weyburn, there isn’t as much available.

“A lot of the rollout is going for the large cities, and the smaller cities like ourselves, and towns and villages, seem to… they say they have a plan, and they are going to divide this money out evenly, but we haven’t seen the plan is yet.”

Overall, Roy considers the meetings a success.

Also at the FCM meetings, former Weyburn Mayor Debra Button was honoured. She was presented with the Pam McConnell Award for advancing gender equality internationally. Button was the first woman elected as president of SUMA, and an ambassador of the FCM to Ukraine.