Emokhare Paul Anthony
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Daily Herald
Prince Albert City council has approved a motion that will have city administrators reviewing municipal purchasing policies for opportunities to buy local in support of a “Team Canada approach.”
Coun. Tony Head brought the motion forward during Monday’s city council meeting with a second from Coun. Blake Edwards. In addition to reviewing purchasing policies, the motion also calls for administration to consider reaching out to local businesses, RMs, and economic development organizations to promote a targeted “Buy Local/Buy Canadian” campaign.
“I don’t take this motion lightly,” Head told council. “It’s one I would rather not put forward. However, our neighbours down south may give us no choice, so here we are, having to defend our nation against another country, which people would think that (we) would never have to do, but we have to protect ourselves. This motion, I know it’s asking a lot of administration, but this ask is important.”
Head’s motion generated plenty of discussion on Monday and passed with a small amendment from Coun. Dawn Kilmer aimed at giving administration more flexibility in their reviews and roundtable discussions.
Several councillors said the motion placed a heavy burden on City Administrators. Head said he understood this was a big request, but felt the City need to start looking at ways to reduce the number of American purchases made.
Typically, administrators are expected to have requests like this returned to council within 90 days. Given the size and scope of the request, Head said he’s comfortable with a more flexible response.
“I know we have a procedure that says 90 days. I am not holding administration to those dates and bringing up all those things,” Head said. “We have to start though.”
Head frequently emphasized that this motion was intended to be a starting point for further action.
“I know other levels of government are doing their bit and their part, but we can do our part here in Prince Albert,” he added.
Mayor Bill Powalinsky was among the council members who thanked Head for bringing the issue forward. Powalinsky said the general public is interested in knowing how the City will respond to U.S. tariffs.
Powalinsky and Coun. Daniel Brown both noted there are some purchases that have to be made in the United States, since there is no Canadian alternative. However, Powalinsky said there could be opportunities for economic alliances with other affected communities and groups
“We might be able to strike very quickly on either a focus group or a consultation, something that would be easily affected by administration who would pull together stakeholders to brainstorm the things that we can do, (and) bring that back,” Powalinsky said. “I think … with more intelligence and more input would could say, ‘okay, this is doable.’”
The motion also calls on City administration to engage with the Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce to bolster local economic development.
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
