The President of the AMBM and Reeve of the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie, Mr. Ivan Normandeau, issued the following statement on today’s cabinet shuffle by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew:

On behalf of the Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM) and its members, I would like to congratulate the Premier of Manitoba, the Honourable Wab Kinew, on his cabinet shuffle, reflecting his commitment to meeting the priorities of Manitobans.

As a result, the Honourable Glen Simard has been appointed Minister of Municipal and Northern Relations, while retaining his portfolio as Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs and the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation, strategic functions for the development and cohesion of our province.

We extend our warmest congratulations to Minister Simard on his appointment. We wish him every success in his new responsibilities and assure him of our full support in carrying them out.

We recognize him as a committed leader who listens carefully and makes himself exceptionally available to the people he represents. His drive to improve and strengthen services makes him a valuable ally, capable of implementing positive change for our province.

Premier Wab Kinew’s mandate letter to Minister Simard reflects a renewed commitment to a shared future for our province. This future fully acknowledges and integrates our Francophone and bilingual communities.

As stated in his new mandate letter, the AMBM and Manitoba’s bilingual municipalities look forward to continuing to work closely and productively with Minister Simard to:

• Build strong and prosperous Francophone and bilingual communities, by continuously improving and optimizing the impact of and access to a full range of government services in both official languages, while recognizing the founding role of the Francophone community in our province. This objective will certainly be supported by the implementation of the Municipal Maturity Model (3M), as well as by the recent renewal of the Canada-Manitoba Agreement on French Language Services (CMAFLS) 2023-2028. We are enthusiastic about further mobilizing bilingual municipalities to foster the development, vitality and prosperity of our Francophone communities, and we know we can count on Minister Simard as an ally in these key efforts.
• Increase and foster collaboration and cooperation between municipalities and the Manitoba government, thereby strengthening the municipal-provincial partnership. We welcome Premier Kinew’s invitation to Minister Simard to recognize municipalities as key partners in improving the lives of Manitobans and their families.
• In order to achieve our collective economic and social growth and prosperity, continue to develop and make available an effective multi-year funding model for municipalities so that they can count on reliable, predictable and flexible financial support for essential municipal programs and services, infrastructure and maintenance.
• Work with municipalities to improve the management and development of wastewater systems, which are crucial to the growth of our population and our local and regional economies.

In collaboration with Minister Simard, the AMBM and its subsidiaries will continue to implement the strategic priorities of Manitoba’s bilingual municipal leadership.

We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the outgoing Minister of Municipal and Northern Relations, the Honourable Ian Bushie, now Minister of Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures. We have greatly appreciated our collaboration with him and his team’s ability to respond to our members’ priorities, finding win-win solutions. We wish him every success for the future.

The AMBM fully supports Premier Wab Kinew’s government’s vision of a promising future. Minister Simard, Premier Kinew and the entire cabinet can count on the AMBM, its members and subsidiaries to work together to build a hopeful future for our Francophone and bilingual communities, for the benefit of the entire province.

The AMBM is the voice of bilingual municipal leadership in the province of Manitoba. It represents 16 local governments committed to providing services in both official languages to their citizens. Together, these municipalities represent the majority of Manitoba’s population. Manitoba’s bilingual municipal leadership is also at the helm of the AMBM Group, a consortium of three complementary organizations: the AMBM, the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, or CDEM) and Eco-West Canada (EWC), which specializes in the green economy. These three complementary organizations actively contribute to the development, vitality and sustainability of the province’s Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs).

Information: Office of the Chief Executive Officer (O-CEO), 204-289-4077, [email protected].