The Association of Manitoba Municipalities continues to call on the provincial government to restore the Dutch elm disease management program to its former state, but they're not expecting results any time soon.

 

Executive Director Joe Masi notes they've opposed the changes since they were first put forward, noting it's just another service downloaded onto municipal governments. While the government used to mark diseased trees and take care of removal operations, they've since downgraded their contribution to $2,000 in administrative fees, and providing just $181.32 per tree removed, with the municipality responsible for the remainder of the cost. While some municipalities have been more vocal than others, Masi says it's hard to find any councils in favour of the downloading.

"We had a resolution passed at our convention when this first happened, at the last convention it was reiterated again. It's right across the province. It's one of those issues that the changes were done with little conversation with our association. We have, since the change was made, attempted at the staff level and at the political level to bring this forward and say you need to restore the program back."

You don't have to look far to find a municipality affected by the changes. In Portage la Prairie city council reluctantly agreed to sign the document, feeling some funding was better than none. Meanwhile Neepawa's council voted against signing the agreement last month, in an effort to protest the changes. However, that decision will return to council in the coming weeks to be reviewed.

While there's been no shortage of concerns expressed, and AMM continues their lobbying efforts, Masi says it's unlikely we'll see the situation resolved in the coming months.

"Obviously, now we're in an election mode in a blackout period. I don't see, at this point, the government dealing with this issue. We'll have to see who the government is after the election, and we'll certainly be at the minister's door pretty quickly after the election to ensure this gets reversed."

Masi says the cuts seem to go against other announcements made by the province, especially when it comes to the numerous commitments to environmental protection.

"The changes were made, and one of the goals of the province is to be green, address climate change, and that sort of thing. Now, they're really putting municipalities in a position to absorb an incredible amount of cost to deal with this now, or some municipalities just may not deal with their Dutch elm disease because they can't afford the cost now."

While council's have been taking different approaches to the issue, Masi says it's hard to say what's most effective. He says from an AMM perspective, they feel each municipal council knows what's best for their community, and says they should make decisions based on that.