Registration - Consultant

Subject Matters

• Agriculture
• Budget
• Climate
• Economic Development
• Elections
• Energy
• Environment
• Fisheries
• Health
• Infrastructure
• Internal Trade
• International Trade
• Justice and Law Enforcement
• Labour
• Municipalities
• Research and Development
• Taxation and Finance
• Telecommunications
• Transportation

Subject Matter Details

Grant, Contribution or Other Financial Benefit

• Rural Healthcare & Recruitment - funding for increase recruitment and retention of healthcare workers in remote rural areas of Saskatchewan

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution

• Carbon Fuel Standards Act; in regard to the impact it will have on Western Canada
• Carbon Tax - Carbon tax; impact of carbon tax on Saskatchewan’s agricultural producers and municipalities.
• Country of Origin Labelling - supported the federal governments efforts to resolve the trade issues regarding COOL
• Fisheries Act - Fisheries Act; ensure it effectively balances the need for habitat protection with the need for municipal infrastructure development.
• Gun Control - Participating in consultations on reducing violent crime consultations and position against bringing in a long gun registry.
• Navigation Protection Act - Navigation Protection Act; placed administrative and financial burdens on municipal infrastructure projects. SARM is concerned that the 2012 amendments will be reversed.
• Railway tax exemptions – CP Rail’s request for tax exemption will affect provincial budget and revenue sharing
• Saskatchewan Act – Section 24 of the Saskatchewan Act regarding the tax exemption to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company

Policies or Program

• Agriculture: Business Risk Management Program suite under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. In particular requesting changes that will enhance support for producers under the AgriStability Program.
• Aquatic Invasive Species - requesting federal government lead the fight to prevent spread of aquatic invasive species throughout Canada and Saskatchewan’s waters.
• Bill C-234 is calling for changes to the "Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act"
• Broadband - Requesting government investment to enhance services in rural Saskatchewan. “Use it or lose it” provisions in spectrum allocation and unused spectrum.
• Broadband – The Rural Broadband Action Committee is moving forward with bringing entities together that will help bring affordable, reliable broadband connectivity to rural Saskatchewan
• Broadband – continue the investments in rural broadband and meet the CRTC’s targets of download speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of at least 10 Mbps
• Budget asks – SARM seeks to find ways to expand the rural workforce, explore ideas that foster innovation, be a catalyst for economic investments, and provide rural municipalities with the much-needed tools to ensure that Saskatchewan can continue to support Canada’s economic growth and development
• Canada-Saskatchewan Job Grant - Municipal access to Canada-Saskatchewan Job Grant.
• Canadian Agriculture Partnership - Canadian Agriculture Partnership; ensuring that it serves to maintain and increase the competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
• Cannabis - Cannabis Act and regulations; mitigating potential risks to municipalities resulting from legalization.
• Carbon pricing – Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment is working on finalizing a provincial offset program & SARM has been working with the province to create an Offset program and make it meaningful for agricultural producers and one that is equivalent to a federal program
• Chronic Wasting Disease - Chronic wasting disease; policies to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease.
• Control of Richardson Ground Squirrels with regard to research and control methods, including the use of Strychnine
• Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements - Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA); with respect to increasing the compensation for use of municipally owned equipment.
• Drought Impact - Business risk management tools will have to be maintained and possibly enhanced if drought conditions continue next year
• Economic Recovery; federal government's plans to balance budget with deficit, economic impacts to western Canada in relation to loss of pipelines
• Emergency Response Fund - Emergency response fund; the establishment of an emergency response fund will give fire departments the resources they need to continue providing essential services without risk of non-payment.
• Energy Infrastructure- Advancing the the notion that pipelines are a safer mode of transportation than rail to the Canadian Energy Regulator.
• Federal Election; the continued federal disconnect from western Canada
• Federal support for municipalities and agricultural producers in Saskatchewan in relation to the Economic Response Plan.
• Fertilizer reduction – focus on an absolute emissions reduction, rather than an intensity-based target, is misplaced and will likely cause severe economic harm & more emissions can be reduced through increased uptake of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship program while improving the competitiveness and profit of farmers
• Food Security – Provide farm operations with the eligibility to apply for the 1A grant funding; incentivize employment and employee retention programs in rural areas of the country to aid in stabilizing labour supply; provide employment training opportunities to be held well in advance of busy times in the Ag industry; and ask that the federal government evaluate its process and the requirements for newcomers to get proper permits to enter the Canadian workforce. Focus on efficiency and reduce barriers so employers can access readily available employees
• Humane Transportation of Livestock - Amendments to regulations
• Infrastructure Funding - Infrastructure funding; ensuring eligibility requirements and thresholds allow rural municipalities to access infrastructure funding.
• International Trade in regard to Canola exports and tariffs
• Liberal Fertilizer Reduction plan
• National Disaster Mitigation Program - National Disaster Mitigation Program; to ensure mitigation projects and strategically and effectively undertaken.
• Natural Disasters (BC Flooding) – amplifying issues surrounding Canada’s supply chain network and the need for a wider lens when monitoring these situations as they relate to all areas of each Province
• New Building Canada Fund - New Building Canada Fund; eligibility requirements and thresholds.
• Pipeline: The pipeline as a greener alternative to shipping oil and gas and the positive effect on Saskatchewan.
• RCMP costs - Unionization-related costs coupled with rising policing costs overall could result in significant financial burdens for municipalities
• RCMP – given the economic increase/market adjustments in the collective agreement, pay increases total more than 23 per cent over the six years, retroactive to 2017 & SARM is calling on the federal government to fully absorb all retroactive pay increases that the federal government negotiated
• Rail Safety - Transporting dangerous goods by rail. Grade crossing improvements.
• Rural Crime; in regard to potential need for provincial police force
• Rural crime and policing - RCMP presence in rural Saskatchewan. Preventing rural crime.
• Tax Loss Compensation - The Rural Municipal (RM) Tax Loss Compensation Trust Fund tied to Treaty Land Entitlement agreements continues to decrease and appears to be unsustainable without municipalities absorbing significant reduction in monies from the fund.
• Transportation with respect to efficient and effective grain transportation.
• Water Treatment Systems - Water treatment systems; alternative water treatment technologies continue to be explored and, where feasible, applicable regulations and guidelines be updated to allow for the most efficient use of those technologies.
• Western drought - Business risk management tools will have to be maintained and possibly enhanced if drought conditions continue next year

Regulation

• Emissions regulations – industries are heavily dependent on fossil fuels to produce energy, food, fertilizer, products and commodities needed around the world. Efforts to reduce greenhouse gases should not disadvantage one region of Canada more than another

Communication Techniques

• Written communication
• Oral communication

Government Institutions

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
• Canadian Energy Regulator (CER)
• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
• Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
• Finance Canada (FIN)
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
• Health Canada (HC)
• House of Commons
• Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)
• Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
• Infrastructure Canada (INFC)
• Justice Canada (JC)
• Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
• Prime Minister's Office (PMO)
• Public Safety Canada (PS)
• Senate of Canada
• Transport Canada (TC)

Address:
2301 Windsor Park Road
Regina, SK  S4V 3A4
Canada

Telephone number: 306-757-3577
Web address: www.sarm.ca

Client representative

Jay Meyer, Executive Director

Parent Company Information

Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities is not a subsidiary of any other parent companies.

Business address:
Box 202
Lipton, SK  S0G 3B0
Canada

Telephone number: 306-331-8305