RM accountability being examined

A provincial review into rural municipalities is — among other things — exploring the issue of RM accountability.

Concerns about the issue were thrust into the spotlight in early 2015 when a provincial government investigation revealed that the reeve of the RM of Sherwood, near Regina, was in a conflict of interest and stood to gain up to $57 million in land deals. The reeve was removed from office.

Since then, stricter language around conflict of interest has been incorporated into the provincial Municipalities Act.

“I really think that the situation that arose in the RM of Sherwood was an exception as opposed to the rule,” said Keith Comstock, assistant deputy minister of municipal relations and northern engagement.

“The vast, vast majority of people that work on behalf of local government in Saskatchewan believe that they ought to be open and transparent and work above board.”

Comstock’s department launched a broad review in 2014 that’s looking at various issues related to RMs, which, despite decreasing populations, are increasingly likely to be involved in major developments.

“We’ve tried to cast a fairly broad net around our consultations on this,” Comstock said, adding the government reviews various programs and services on a regular basis and that the look into RMs is a “normal course of business” for the government.

There are 296 RMs in the province that operate with varying degrees of openness and transparency. While the province’s largest RM, Corman Park, shares audio and written recordings of its public meetings online, other RMs have no websites and can’t do so.

Ray Orb, president of the Saskatchewan Rural Municipalities Association, said he doesn’t think it’s an issue.

“People can still go into the RM office and ask for those,” he said.

Orb said part of the reason many RMs lack websites is because remote RMs have no high-speed Internet access, which makes it difficult to upload or download files. The association is pushing to increase high-speed access in rural Saskatchewan, and when that happens, more RMs will have websites, he said.

It’s not yet clear when the ongoing review of rural municipalities will wrap up or if it will lead to further legislative changes.