AMM zooms in on public safety, professional development

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This article was published 19/04/2022 (1620 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Keystone Centre was buzzing with activity Tuesday as dozens of municipal officers gathered for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities’ spring convention.

The focus of the day was public safety and professional development, featuring a presentation from the provincial department of justice.

“We continue to work to ensure that our communities remain safe places to live and invest,” said Denys Volkov, executive director of AMM.

Like other events, some of the AMM’s previous gatherings had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing municipal officials from convening.

Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest, one of several community leaders in attendence, is grateful the networking opportunity has been restored.

“It’s really a great feeling. I’ve found over the many years that I’ve been doing this it has been extremely valuable. Throughout the year when you’ve got an issue, you can pick up a phone and reach out for help.”

In terms of professional development and code of conduct, Volkov said the session that took place on Tuesday highlighted some concerns over municipal officials receiving hateful mail, social media messages and deterring communications from the public.

“We are aware of them. We’ve talked to the provincial government about strengthening ways to provide protection for municipal officials who face those hateful types of messages,” Volkov said.

Chrest said his council has fared better than others in Westman with regard to receiving hateful communication. He attributed this to navigating the waters of the pandemic fairly well, and by keeping budgets in line.

“I certainly get some,” he said. “Strong opinions come forward and I chalk it up to this pandemic has been hard on everyone and certainly harder on some people than others. They tend to lash out with the like, it goes with the territory.”

Much of the correspondence he receives from frustrated individuals comes anonymously from outside of the city.

“The key is not to fully engage, and deal with the facts.”

Volkov said while he understands navigating the pandemic in Manitoba has been difficult, he is disappointed to see the people he helps represent take unnecessary abuse.

“Municipal officials’ compensation is not high [enough] for them to do this extra work in their community. They are doing their best, and they deserve respect for the work they do,” he said.

With municipal elections taking place this fall, Chrest is concerned about the number of interested candidates that would consider taking his place as mayor for the city. He is encouraging future candidates to not be dissuaded by negative messages sent from frustrated citizens.

“We’re going to be doing everything we can to promote people getting involved in the process. Both from the standpoint of running and just making sure they get interested and vote. Voting turnout has been slipping back and we want to counteract that.”

Chrest said it would be unfortunate to see people not take an interest in municipal politics as a result of the fear of not being able to please everyone.

“It’s not going to be as bad as you think it’s going to be,” he said.

The 2022 spring convention will continue until Thursday.

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