PRINCE ALBERT — Former Prince Albert mayor and city councillor Don Cody was recognized for his service by the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association during their President’s Gala on April 15.
Cody was awarded the Scoop Lewry Award, which is presented in recognition of outstanding service in municipal government or administration, on a local, provincial and national basis.
Cody served as Prince Albert’s mayor from 1994 to 2003. He was elected as Ward 4 city councillor in 2012, a position he held until 2024 when he announced he would not seek another term in office.
Cody said he was grateful to receive the recognition from SUMA during their convention in Saskatoon from April 13 to April 16.
"It's certainly a humbling kind of thing to get,” he said. “It's a great award.”
The Scoop Lewry Award is named after a longtime Moose Jaw mayor. Cody said Lewry was “a very good community man,” and that’s what he tried to be, too.
“It's quite an honour to get that kind of an award,” he said. “It certainly was surprising, but at the same time, I must say humbling.”
Those eligible to be nominated are elected officials, administrators, SUMA officials, personnel in the Ministry of Government Relations, and personnel in First Nations and Métis Relations.
Cody has already received the Life Membership in SUMA and was nominated for another award. He also served two terms on the SUMA board.
Cody said that the award was a great way to wrap up his years of public service. In addition to his time as mayor and city councillor, CODY was an NDP MLA in the Saskatchewan legislature.
"I have had a pretty good run, so you have to appreciate it,” Cody said.
Cody said he always wanted to serve the public even before entering public life.
"Serving the public is a great honour and it's something that I longed to do ever since I was young,” said Cody. He first ran for public office at 34.
Cody said he tried to do things for the betterment of the community, province and country.
"If you're doing it for another reason than that, you shouldn't get it, but I always believe that there is some good people can do,” he said. “A lot of politicians do a lot of good work, and I'm sure all of them do it for the right reason. That's why I did it, just because I just felt it was necessary to help out as best you can.”
Cody offers simple advice for those thinking about entering politics and serving the public.
"My advice simply would be always be honest with people,” he said. “It’s not that you can do everything for them because that's not possible, but go in there with an open mind and be able to be convinced from time to time that your point of view is not necessarily the right one.”
Cody said that he was thankful to get the award from SUMA.
“I appreciate the fact that I was able to get this award from SUMA, a great organization. SUMA they do a lot of good for our communities. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have a lot of the things we have today that we enjoy as a municipality. I certainly enjoyed every minute of being in municipal politics, and I enjoyed every minute of being in provincial politics, and if I had it to do over again, I would do it again.”
