WARMAN — Health care recruitment, red tape regulations and local public transit were just some of the topics brought up during the annual “Lunch with Leaders” event hosted Jan. 17 at the Sky Chef Lounge in Warman.
Despite the poor driving conditions earlier that day, the annual luncheon hosted by the Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce drew a full house, with most (if not all) of the 42 registered participants showing up.
Angela Steiert, executive director of the Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce, said there were a variety of businesses that signed up for the event, along with some representatives of the Prairie Spirit School Division and staff from the cities of Warman and Martensville.
There were also five local, provincial and federal politicians on hand to engage with the crowd and provide answers to whatever questions the crowd posed, including Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk, Martensville Mayor Kent Muench, Martensville-Blairmore MLA Jamie Martens, Warman MLA Terry Jenson and Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek MP Kelly Block.
“It was really neat this year that we would have all five elected officials at the same table in the same room,” said Steiert.
One of the frequent lines of inquiry from participants related to health care. Steiert noted that recruitment of health-care workers had been a hot topic during the provincial election, and some people wondered how the province was doing in terms of its recruitment strategies.
Darla McLean, president of the Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce, said MLA Jenson talked about how the province is expanding the scope of pharmacists and nurse practitioners to allow them more responsibility in the provision of health care.
As well, Jenson also alluded to the fact that the province has called on the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine to develop a physician assistant master’s program.
McLean said the MLA also talked about how the goal of the province is for everyone to have access to a primary care provider if they want one, and to increase the number of surgeries being performed.
She said Warman mayor Gary Philipchuk chimed in on this topic to say Warman is looking for more after-hours, walk-in type of services. He also alluded to a disparity between recruitment initiatives when it comes to rural and urban communities.
“He’s hoping for more fairness…amongst all of the communities in the province to be able to recruit,” McLean said.
Another local issue that was brought up was whether a pedestrian overpass would be built near the new Martensville Recreation Centre, McLean said.
Martensville mayor Muench responded that the city was working on it, but whether or not an overpass goes ahead is ultimately up to the province.
“If it was up to them, they would have a plan, no problem, but because they have to wait for their concept plan to be approved, it’s taking longer than they would’ve hoped,” McLean said.
Steiert said one participant also brought up whether establishing public transport was on the radar of local municipalities.
McLean said that Muench had answered this question by saying private groups have tried to introduce public transport, but it never works out because there simply isn’t enough ridership.
“Red tape” was also the subject of several participants’ inquiries, with one person noting that they have tried to get funding for youth mental health initiatives but found there were a lot of hoops to jump through.
Jenson responded that the province has its own Red Tape Reduction committee, which has been working for the past decade to reduce regulation and save businesses time and money.
“I actually didn’t know about that,” said McLean. “That was interesting.”
Chamber events
Now that the Lunch with Leaders is completed, the Chamber’s next major project is the Business Excellence Awards coming up in May.
Nominations close Jan. 31 for the awards, which recognize local businesses for community involvement, customer service, marketing and other accomplishments. There are seven award categories in total.
The only other annual event hosted by the Chamber is its annual golf tournament, which is held in the fall.
“Last year, both of these events sold out, so we’re expecting another sellout this year,” said McLean.
Beyond these annual events, the Chamber of Commerce offers support and advocacy for local businesses in Warman, Martensville and nearby communities and is planning to put together some networking/educational events in the spring, including a communications workshop in early April.
