Local political leaders fielded a variety of questions last Thursday at a forum jointly sponsored by the Winkler and Morden chambers of commerce.
The topics ranged from the need for more post-secondary education and training in the area to the challenges faced by many community organizations.
A common thread for Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens, Morden Mayor Nancy Penner, Stanley Reeve Ike Friesen, and Morden-Winkler MLA Carrie Hiebert was the importance of co-operation at a regional level.
“We have leaders in our community, both in the greater community and elected representatives, who believe the same,” said Siemens.
“We meet once a month as a tri-council. We get together; we talk about regional issues and bring those issues to the table,” said Penner. “We realize some of the bigger issues that have a regional impact need to be discussed, and without discussing those issues at a regional level, they won’t move forward.”
“I think it hasn’t been any better than this,” said Friesen, who added the monthly meetings also include the chief administrative officers and city managers. “It’s a great time. Even having the two chambers hosting something like this is great to see.”
Hiebert commented “how proud I am of our area and our region because you guys are working together … this last year, I’ve seen so much happening as a team and as a group. I think it’s exciting.
“People are talking about it in the province,” she suggested. “We’ve got economic growth. We’ve got so much happening here.”
Questions came up about the need for more post-secondary education in the region.
“There’s a number of areas there that we can build on,” said Penner, who noted the example of the LPN program of Assiniboine Community College which is now available in Morden. “Most secondary education is important. If we can train our graduates at home, we can retain them at home.”
“We have definitely brought this up at our monthly meetings. We need to move forward with having it more local,” said Friesen. “It would be great to have something more here.”
“I’ve actually been talking to several post-secondary institutions in the province. We just encourage them to come take a look here,” said Hiebert. “It’s going to help with retention. We’re going to keep our people; we’re going to grow our community. We’re going to grow our health care.”
“We’re working together as much as we possibly can on it,” noted Siemens. “All of it needs to be expanded and needs to be grown because of the size of the opportunity, and I think some of these institutions are recognizing that as well.”
“They’re interested in us. They recognize what we bring to the table, and it’s going to happen if we step into it.”
Nicole Walske, executive director of Menzies Medical Centre, noted how part of their challenge in attracting health care professionals here is the shortage of education and training opportunities. There are a few programs here now, but others have been lost and more are needed.
“We all know our health care is struggling … if we can’t solve the recruiting problem, we can’t build on all the other things.”
The four leaders also offered comments on the issues around affordability and how many local residents are struggling.
“We hear every single day how hard it is to get into a home, how hard it is to pay your bills and how hard it is to make a living today. The better job we can do to make overall life affordable, the more attractive our region becomes,” said Siemens.
“More housing opportunities need to be there,” noted Penner.
“We know right now we have an affordability crisis … we do have a lot of amazing organizations doing great work in our communities,” said Hiebert.
Nevertheless, she sees a need for more support for the whole range of social services.
“As a province, we’re trying to figure this out, trying to figure out how we can support it.”
Mariyam Tsygankova, executive director of Many Hands Resource Centre in Morden, cited how they see significant increases in people needing a wide array of supports, so there is a need for more funding support for non-profit organizations.
“I don’t think it’s just a city responsibility, it’s a community responsibility,” said Penner. “As communities, we have to come together to address the issues.”
“You have a limited budget, but there is a growing need … how much more can we come back to with all the core funding challenges that we ourselves have,” said Siemens.
Tsygankova suggested organizations can’t just keep looking to the community to meet the growing needs, and that thought was echoed by Milt Olfert, who spoke from the perspective of being involved with the Winkler Food Cupboard.
“The city needs to step up and help more when it comes to these programs,” he said. “We’re not seeing the help from our government at all levels.”
“It is a really big challenge,” said Siemens. “Property taxes are no longer the best way to fund municipalities. It’s not sustainable. It doesn’t work … if there isn’t a different funding model, eventually these three very prosperous communities in southern Manitoba will hit the wall that other municipalities in Manitoba and in Canada already have now.”
Hiebert concluded by suggesting they are also pressuring the government to better support growing areas like this region.
“Right now, a lot of our taxes are not coming to our region … so why are the rural areas not receiving back? We need to make sure we are not forgotten.”
