On September 1, Ritchot’s council agreed to nominate Mayor Chris Ewen as a candidate for vice president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM). If elected, Ewen’s new responsibilities would be conducted in addition to those of his existing position as mayor.
As mayor of Ritchot, Ewen says he has sought to bring people together through better RM-wide accessibility and communication, including efforts on social media to engage as many residents as possible in local issues. Ewen has been a champion of the municipality’s Connect app, which enables the RM to easily broadcast information—like news, upcoming events, weather, and emergency alerts—to all residents.
Ewen says he would take this focus on connectivity with him to the AMM level if he were to be elected.
“My goal is to bring young, outside-the-box concepts and ideas to the AMM,” says Ewen. “I think I really brought some of those big dreams and ideas to Ritchot when I was elected as mayor. And I think I have the opportunity to showcase that to all of Manitoba through the AMM. I love the idea of being able to increase connectivity, and to communicate with constituents with social media. We were one of the first councils to push the Connect software to be able to communicate with all of our constituents in that regard.”
Every two years, AMM members elect a president and two vice-presidents to form an executive committee. Nominations for these positions must be submitted by resolution passed by a municipal council.
During the RM’s latest meeting on September 1, council voted unanimously to support Ewen’s bid. He recused himself for the portion of the meeting that held the discussion and vote.
“Council is excited for the mayor and this opportunity,” says Shane Pelletier, deputy mayor. “We are hopeful to see representation on the AMM executive from the RM of Ritchot.”
So what inspired Ewen to increase the scope of work beyond Ritchot?
“A group of people had asked if I would consider being on the executive committee for the AMM,” Ewen says. “I thought about it for the past few months and I sparked the idea to council. The AMM is our lobbying group and our support group for all the municipalities for all of Manitoba. Without them, we wouldn't have the cohesion we currently have. We have a great team in them and they really bring us all together. They have great conferences to help bring training to our leaders. They have great human resources and insurance packages, and support for all aspects of municipal business. I’m really looking forward to being able to work together amongst municipalities going through the same things.”
In 1999, the Union of Manitoba Municipalities (UMM) and the Manitoba Association of Urban Municipalities (MAUM) merged to create the AMM to represent all municipalities in Manitoba, including the City of Winnipeg. Divided into seven districts, group members come together to strengthen municipal leadership through professional development events, meetings, webinars, and workshops.
The AMM also provides the opportunity to access human resources help for municipal offices, municipal insurance and safety support, vehicle fleet management, and capital venture purchasing programs.
This year, the AMM annual convention will be held virtually on November 23, and voting will be conducted electronically using secure online voting software.
