A new northern municipality lobby group may be on the horizon.
Several northern mayors and councilors are in agreement that a new organization to represent northern interests needs to be established.
The northern municipal leaders recently met in Prince Albert where the idea was brought forward and agreed upon.
A board of 5 people was then selected by the northern municipalities to help form the new organization.
“I was quite happy to see that progress being made,” said Ile a la Crosse Mayor Buckley Belanger in a conversation with MBC Radio News.
For many years, the 35 northern municipalities had their common interests lobbied for through the organization New North. However, that organization has become dormant in recent years.
“I think over time New North simply lost its focus and there were challenges within the organization as well,” said Belanger.
Belanger says this new group will be different with a new name and a new brand.
He says the hope is to build this new organization with a “good foundation” with financial transparency and a strong economic plan.
“I am quite excited,” he said. “I think people are going to hear a lot more of a new energetic and focused northern municipal council.”
Belanger says they hope to move the process quickly and hope to have some more official announcements in the coming months.
The full interview with Ile a la Crosse Mayor Buckley Belanger is available here.