Saskatoon city coun., former lt.-gov. running for SUMA president

Two well-known figures in Saskatchewan politics are running to represent the interests of the province's towns and cities.

Saskatoon city councillor Darren Hill will be running against former lieutenant-governor Gordon Barnhart to become the next president of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA).

Hill has been a city councillor for 10 years and has served on the board of directors for both the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and SUMA.

Barnhart is a councillor in the town of Saltcoats, Sask., and has served in numerous roles, including clerk of the Canadian Senate, interim president of the University of Saskatchewan, and clerk of Saskatchewan's Legislative Assembly.

Working together

Speaking with CBC Radio, Barnhart said he knows a few things about political compromise.

​Barnhart said his years working behind the scenes in non-partisan political roles mean he has a firm grasp of what will get results and he has developed solid relationships with decision makers.

"I'm not the type of person that I'm going to slam my fist on the table and say, 'This is what I'm demanding,'" he said. "It's not conciliation but it's more co-operation."

No one at SUMA believes the next political term is going to be easy. The provincial government is dealing with shrinking revenues and municipalities believe the province's revenue sharing agreement will likely be shrunk.

Barnhart said he will be pushing for the status quo when it comes to the revenue agreement, but understands that it may well be out of SUMA's hands.

"I'm not going to be saying to the members of SUMA, 'Vote for me and I promise that we're going to keep revenue sharing as it is today,'" he said. "It's up to the provincial government, to a great extent."

Barnhart became a councillor in Saltcoats last year, after the town had difficulty finding candidates. He said the issues facing Saltcoats, like sewer, water and paving roads, are universal across the province.

He wants towns and villages to be "represented in a high-profile position in SUMA."

The veteran

Hill is also concerned about revenue sharing changing. He said the City of Saskatoon has already started a five-year budget cycle with the money from revenue sharing included.

"If not, we have to go back and rework our budget," he said. "At the end of the day, it would either mean projects are not completed or an increase in property tax for our residents. That's not the avenue we'd like to take."

Hill hopes his years in municipal politics and on the SUMA board will help influence the province when making its decision. He said keeping a united front with groups like the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is essential.

"We need to make sure we are completely united in our discussions," he said. "We've been told that revenue sharing is still on the table, but I'm really hoping it's at the far end of the table."

Hill said he would also like to work more closely with SARM on integrating services with cities and surrounding rural municipalities.

"We need to look a little bit forward and see how we can approach things a bit differently than how we're doing things in Saskatchewan," he said.

"The town of Lumsden and the RM of Lumsden share an administrator and share an office building. The city of Weyburn and the RM of Weyburn have an agreement on a recreational facility. I think we need to capture best practices."

The SUMA annual convention will be held in Saskatoon next week.