Municipal leaders praise benefits of national conference

Nova Scotia delegates are returning home from an annual conference for municipal leaders, a conference they say gives small communities a big voice.

"How often do you get to be in a meeting with the prime minister," said Lunenburg County Mayor Don Downe, after attending an opening session with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Winnipeg over the weekend.

Downe was one of 80 delegates representing Nova Scotian towns, counties and regions at the annual conference of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Trudeau's remarks at the conference included promises about rural broadband.

"High speed internet across the nation is a major priority and will certainly be a part of the next major Build Canada initiative," said Downe, who calls himself a big supporter of the FCM.

'This is about growing the economy'

A CBC Nova Scotia investigation found the total cost for Nova Scotia delegations to two earlier FCM conferences totalled more than $650,000. More than 100 officials went to Vancouver in 2013 and Niagara Falls in 2014.

• How much did it cost to send a CBC reporter to a conference on municipalities?

Mayor Downe hopes that media attention won't deter people from attending because he believes every community can benefit from taking part.

"This is about growing the economy, this is putting sustainability, environmental protection and inclusiveness within all of Canada."

Truro Coun. Danny Joseph agreed. Joseph attended the FCM for the first time in Winnipeg and said the sessions were educational and "stimulating."

"I never realized the value of networking before but it's substantial," he said.

Joseph said he also learned "the importance of federal, provincial, municipal cooperation" and said every elected official should go to one FCM meeting.

Colchester County Coun. Tom Taggart said had he not gone to Winnipeg, he wouldn't know about the international Blue Flag program.

Beaches are granted the Blue Flag designation based on water quality, safety and environmental management.

"What better way to attract tourists to West Colchester, which is my district, than to have this internationally known Blue Flag standard for some of our beaches," said Taggart.

"That's just one thing that I've learned by being here at this conference."

Other elected officials, including Amherst Coun. Robert Bird, have questioned the value of FCM conferences.

'The value just isn't there'

Amherst spent close to $40,000 sending nearly every councillor to FCM meetings in Vancouver and Niagara Falls. Bird is the only sitting councillor who has not attended.

While he agrees that it's important for municipalities to attend, he said he doesn't think everyone should go.

"It's the dollars," he said.

"If you're going to spend tens of thousands of dollars of the taxpayers' money, I think you need to be able to discern, specifically, what that value is. In my estimation, I don't see it. Others may differ but my opinion is, the value just isn't there."