Moose Jaw praised for green initiatives at 2023 SUMA Convention

The 2023 Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) Convention was held April 16 - 19 at TCU Place in Saskatoon.

Moose Jaw Mayor Clive Tolley says the thing that impressed him the most about SUMA this year, was the fact that Greenwave Innovations was there, trying to encourage other municipalities to get involved in green initiatives.

"They were kind of holding Moose Jaw out as the poster boys for that and using us as an example of what to do," he remarked. "They praised Moose Jaw for taking an initiative and initiating a Climate Action Plan. As many of our citizens would know, we've put solar panels on some of our buildings. We've put in LED lighting. We've done some upgrades at our wastewater treatment plant. There's dashboards at City Hall and at the Kinsmen Sportsplex, where you can see up-to-date data and energy efficiency that we're realizing through these green initiatives. We're going in the right direction. The things we're doing today will save us money down the road as well as saving the planet."

Moose Jaw Mayor Clive Tolley says the city's green initiatives will save taxpayers money down the road - File Photo

Tolley noted that he was happy to share Moose Jaw's successes with other municipalities.

"A lot of municipalities have thought about doing some green initiatives and they're a little bit concerned about the initial capital cost of that. The savings are in your operating budget over the years. Certainly, the savings we're going to be gaining from using these green solutions are going to provide us with less cost for operating in the future, which is than going to be good in terms of reduced operating costs to the city as a whole and therefore less operating costs passed along to the taxpayer."

Mental health and homelessness was another key topic that was discussed at the SUMA convention.

"Moose Jaw is just one of the many municipalities in this province that's having problems with people on the streets," continued Tolley. "Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert of course have more problems than we do. They were really pressuring the provincial government about, 'Could there be more coordination between social services, health and justice to try and come up with more workable solutions to homelessness?' That was a lot of the discussion with the provincial cabinet ministers."

This year's keynote speaker was Cody Demerais, an award-winning Métis entrepreneur born and raised in Prince Albert, SK.

The 2024 SUMA Convention will be held in Regina from April 14 - 17.

SUMA has been bringing members together for an annual convention since 1906.

- with files from Shawn Slaght/Discover Moose Jaw