Portage la Prairie mayor Irvine Ferris attended this year's Association of Manitoba Municipalities meeting this week in Winnipeg. This year's theme was New Partnerships New Possibilities. He says it was the first time all cabinet members attended with the premier.

"The entire cabinet turned out and Premier Pallister was there, so we had a chance to get to know all of the cabinet. Obviously, we knew some of the ministers before this, but there were new faces. Also, the message from the premier was very encouraging. He referred to the AMM as partners with the province in moving the province ahead."

He says that was certainly something their membership liked to hear. Ferris notes the premier set a positive tone for the new working relationship they have with the provincial government.

Ferris notes a business meeting and elections took place, with two vice presidents elected including Ralph Groening and Gavin van der Linde of Morris. Chris Goertzen was re-elected as president, and a total of 47 resolutions went into the meeting. He adds one last minute emergency resolution was presented and passed on Tuesday.

"That called for joint action on the part of the federal and provincial governments to ensure the port of Churchill re-opens in time for the 2017 grain shipping next summer. This was a resolution put forward by Mike Spence and the community of Churchill, and received a lot of support. We understand the importance not only to the north, but also to the economy of Manitoba. It's something that's needed to be addressed. The grain shipping season this year was cancelled due to problems with the railway, etc. The resolution also called on the province to make revitalizing the port the number one priority of its new Northern Economic Development Strategy Task Force. This was something the community of Churchill and our Association felt was their number one priority for that development."

He notes they also asked for a resolution to be passed that would put an AMM member on the Highway Traffic Board that was appointed by the province.