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By Alice McFarlane

SARM convention

Rural municipalities consider numerous resolutions at annual meeting

Mar 12, 2026 | 2:59 PM

Elected representatives from the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) had a lot to consider during their three-day annual convention.

Roughly 25 resolutions were debated.

In one of the most significant resolutions, 95 per cent of delegates voted in favour of asking the federal government to reverse its decision to close Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research farms at Scott and Indian Head.  

RM of Indian Head Division 6 Councillor Eric Gray said closing those farms will affect many producers. 

“Thirty-five per cent, so 35 per cent of the people in this room, their soil is best represented by the Indian Head soil type. Another 27 per cent is Scott. That’s a total of 62 per cent of the people in this room; their environmental and soil type is best represented by those two farms, and those are the two that they decided to axe,” Gray said.  

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Another resolution dealt with proposed cattle traceability changes from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.  RM of Val Marie Division 2 Councillor Tim Christenson said the resolution called for the proposed changes to be cancelled.  

“It’s an overreach with no additional positive product,” Christenson said. “Having said that, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is pushing us. They say to do better and yet no checks in place to keep CFIA honest when dealing with producers who have had their herds depopulated for a disease. Fair compensation in a timely manner has not been adhered to. They should clean up their own act before imposing ridiculous regulations on the rest of us.”  

That resolution passed with a 97 per cent vote in favour.  

SARM delegates also considered a resolution asking the Saskatchewan government to increase penalties for those violating foreign farmland ownership rules. It also requested the Farmland Security Board to conduct audits on the source of financing for corporations that own or buy farmland in Saskatchewan.  

“Bigger parcels of land are changing hands every year. It’s vital that the Farmland Security Board has a strong deterrence to prevent foreign investment in Saskatchewan farmland,” said Justin Brisebois, Division 5 Councillor with the RM of Mankota.  

There was one defeated resolution that called for the elimination of the SARM midterm convention in November as a way to save money.  Terry Hildebrandt, with the RM of Langenberg proposed a compromise but did not introduce an amendment to the motion.  

“I look at the cost of these conferences. Can we not do a midterm Zoom where we can all participate from our chambers? We can vote, I’m sure, through electronics. We can deal with resolutions. It’s got to be a terrific amount of cost and just a compromise idea,” he said.  

Only 44 per cent of voting delegates supported eliminating the SARM midterm convention. A two-thirds vote was required for that resolution to pass.  

The SARM annual convention was wrapped up Thursday in Regina.    

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com