Portage la Prairie's mayor has returned from Thompson, where he met with city leaders from across the province.

Irvine Ferris attended the Association of Manitoba Municipalities' Cities Caucus meetings late last week, focusing on economic challenges, and new initiatives. Ferris says while the meeting was mostly attended by mayors of southern cities, they had many important conversations. Omnitrax pulling out of Churchill, the closure of the Tolko mill in the Pas, as well as uncertainty over their casino, and the impending cease of the Vale nickel mine smelting operation in Thompson have made for economic concerns in the province's north, something discussed at length during those meetings.

While northern Manitoba seems a long distance away, Ferris notes the economic impact of those challenges will be felt across the province. He also notes the conversations are relevant to Portage, citing a conversation with Thompson Mayor Dennis Fenske.

"We talked a bit about how they've been working with Vale nickel company and the federal government to mitigate what's going to happen there in 2018, which is a significant loss of jobs when Vale shuts down their smelting operation. In Portage la Prairie, we face some issues similar to that. I'm sure people have heard me talk about MDC and that sort of thing."

The City's been investigating the possible future of the Manitoba Developmental Centre for quite some time, due to an aging MDC population, and a switch to community-centred care. Ferris notes seeing what other communities are doing could play a vital role in Portage's work, with the changes eventually coming to the city's third largest employer.

Other discussions focused on the ever-growing cost of community policing. It's an issue faced across the country, challenging small cities in their budget process. Ferris says a new program currently being tested in Thompson could help address that concern.

"We got to see first hand a pilot project the city of Thompson and the provincial government have been working on. That's a community safety officer model. We got a chance to see some of the results, they've had it for one year now. It was fairly impressive and there might be some possibilities for other cities."

It wasn't just the usual business meeting. Ferris says with Manitoba's northern region being hit with hard economic times, it's important to show their support for those communities. He notes economic hardships anywhere in Manitoba, and lead to challenges throughout the province.