The four-day convention hosted by the Saskatchewan Rural Municipalities Association(SUMA) wrapped recently. 

There were almost 1,000 delegates in attendance, four of whom were representatives from the Friendly City. Councillor Heather Eby was glad she was able to attend and is ready to get back to work with some new ideas and has questions to ask. 

"It was a lot of good things, it's been a while since I've been to SUMA so it was good to be back there. There was 993 delegates, with four from Moose Jaw," explained Councillor Eby. "Probably the biggest thing was the opening announcement from the Premier regarding revenue sharing and the lift that that will bring to everyone's budgets in Saskatchewan."

Each year the most attended event is that one that is saved for the last, the bear pit session, which Eby said opened her eyes a little and it was nice to see a Moose Jaw delegate have a leading role in it.

"The thing that resonates with me is that no matter who gets up to speak, whether they are from the north or small town Saskatchewan or from the big cities, many of the issues that we're facing in Moose Jaw are things that people are facing elsewhere. So it's kind of good to know you're not alone. Mayor Tolmie was also the chair of the bear pit session."

Despite all the lessons Eby noted she said one of the most important ones took place as she was on her way to the convention when a councillor from a community in the eastern part of the province wanted to pick her brain about cast iron replacement. 

"They've been watching our news and paying attention to how we've managed to get our cast iron replacement program going. It was really good to talk to him and give him some of our experiences and some of the things I wish we could do different and some of the things that are working. You go there and you think 'what am I going to learn from someone else and what can I pick up', and then maybe for the first time I realized that other people are wanting to learn from us and from me."

She also added that she's looking forward to getting back into council chambers to get back into the swings of things, and also to see how much Moose Jaw will be getting from revenue sharing when the local numbers are released.