Premier Scott Moe delivers a speech during the second day of 2025 Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) Convention and Tradeshow in Saskatoon at TCU place. (Facebook/ Kelli Hawtin)

By battlefordsNOW staff

2025 SUMA

Catching up with Mayor Hawtin on takeaways from the 2025 SUMA

Apr 15, 2025 | 5:05 PM

North Battleford Mayor Kelli Hawtin says this year’s Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) Convention and Trade show provided both insight and inspiration as council looks to tackle major challenges back home.

“It’s been another good experience. We’ve had lots of networking opportunities,” Hawtin said, reflecting on the annual gathering in Saskatoon at TCU Place.

This year’s convention, which wraps on Wednesday, features a full slate of sessions focused on networking, learning and municipal policy, with appearances by Premier Scott Moe, Government Relations Minister Don McMorris, Opposition Leader Carla Beck and Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Scott Pearce.

“We’ve had lots of networking opportunities, meeting a lot of people — not only other municipal leaders from other communities, but we are meeting lots of contacts in government or government agencies,” Hawtin said.

Among the topics front and centre at this year’s event were housing and addiction — issues Hawtin said are being felt across Saskatchewan.

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“There’s a lot of discussion on how we move ourselves out of this crisis. Housing being one of them, but also again, addiction,” she said.

Hawtin pointed to a presentation by Dr. Gabor Maté, a world-renowned addictions expert, as particularly impactful.

“His delegation really stemmed around how do we look at individuals suffering with addictions and how do we treat them as a person … as a condition that probably stems from trauma [and] hurt,” she said.

“I know I learned a lot and I know our councillors learned a lot in that session, and I think it has changed the way we look at some things.”

In addition to policy discussions, the city also picked up a sample of a new pothole patching product.

“Other municipalities are telling us they can patch potholes with this product and not have to return to them for a year or two,” Hawtin said. “We’re bringing back a couple of samples … because of course potholes are an issue for us with our aging roads.”

Hawtin said regional collaboration was another recurring theme, and noted North Battleford continues to strengthen ties with neighbouring governments.

“We have to communicate with our neighbours to understand all of our priorities and what are some of those priorities that maybe our neighbour can help us with,” she said. “The town and the city have a good relationship, and we’re really trying to work with our nations and our RMs partners as well.”

She said she’s especially looking forward to Wednesday’s dialogue with ministers.

“There’s dialogue in those rooms that really spark ideas or spark conversations or spark solutions, because it’s dialogue from all communities to the ministers. So I’m really looking forward to that tomorrow. We all are.”

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com