From solid waste to Daylight Saving Time to the potential of four-year municipal council terms, communities across the territory are ready to start working with the Yukon government on a variety of issues.

Diana Rogerson, the president of the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC), said this morning the organization’s annual general meeting and conference held over the weekend in Faro, where she serves as a councillor, was a success.

“It was a great weekend,” she told the Star.

Highlighting her pride in her home community and the work of residents, town staff and her fellow council members in hosting the 100-plus guests for the conference, Rogerson noted municipal leaders were pleased to hear a commitment from the Liberal government to work on the many municipal issues.

Solid waste was the focus of much discussion over the four days.

Community Services Minister John Streicker announced the government’s commitment to move forward on changes to legislation for beverage containers and designated materials for recycling.

Proposed changes that would have added materials for recycling were put on hold by the previous Yukon Party government to allow for greater consultation with stakeholders.

That’s now been done, with the new government stating changes will now go ahead.

“They made that commitment,” Rogerson said.

She went on to note the territory is also moving forward with plans for a solid waste advisory committee on waste diversion which will bring forward recommendations on a territory-wide approach to solid waste.

The working group, which had been tasked with research on waste diversion, has basically met its mandate, she said.

Both the AYC and the City of Whitehorse will be part of the new advisory group, Rogerson said.

Communities outside of the capital city recognize that the landfill in Whitehorse receives waste from throughout the territory, and Whitehorse has an important role in dealing with it.

Perhaps the most contentious resolution passed focused on extending municipal council terms to four years from the current three years.

The resolution was passed by two thirds of the members, with the remaining one third wanting to see the terms remain at the current three years.

Rogerson noted those, including herself, who voted in favour of the four-year term cited issues around the length of time it takes to learn all the work involved in being on council and learning to work with other members of council. There would also be a reduction in costs with more time between elections.

Meanwhile, those who voted to maintain the three-year council terms highlighted the difficulty there could be in drawing potential candidates to run with a longer term.

While not all members agreed on the term length, Rogerson said every delegate agreed that more and better work needs to be done on educating potential candidates on what’s involved in serving on council.

At one time, council terms were two years.

Other resolutions included working with:

• the territory on funding arrangements with municipal governments

• exploring the possibility of doing away with Daylight Saving Time;

• doing a territory-wide emergency measures table top exercise;

• supporting owner-built homes through permitting changes;

• a possible water conservation strategy that would also recognize the unique circumstances of individual communities; and

• moving forward with economic development initiatives for rural Yukon.

Throughout the weekend, Rogerson said she and other members of AYC were pleased to hear from and speak to MLAs from all political stripes in the territory.

“There were some very candid discussions,” she said.

Along with MLAs, MP Larry Bagnell and municipal and Yukon government staff were on hand throughout the weekend.

So was Jenny Gerbasi, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM’s) first vice-president, and the organization’s government relations advisor, Hardave Birk.

In an interview last Thursday just after landing in Whitehorse, Gerbasi said the AYC’s annual gathering is a good time for the FCM to hear what issues are impacting Yukon municipalities.

As a national organization, she said, it’s important that the FCM connect with municipalities in territories and provinces across the country.

Typically, the president will try to attend similar gatherings of municipal organizations in other regions.

With both the Northwest Territories Association of Communities and the AYC having their annual meetings over the same weekend, both president Clark Somerville and Gerbasi, who’s Winnipeg’s deputy mayor, made their way north.

Somerville went to the N.W.T. and Gerbasi visited the Yukon to hear the issues and concerns of municipalities in each territory.

While Gerbasi was set to spend a lot of time over the weekend listening to the concerns of municipal leaders in the Yukon, she also made a presentation about the FCM’s work on Saturday morning.

“There’s a lot of good news,” she said, highlighting funding outlined in the federal budget for infrastructure, housing and more.

Gerbasi and Birk said the organization worked to lobby the federal government to take into account the unique needs of the North and fund 75 per cent of eligible projects rather than the more typical 33 per cent that’s provided to projects in the provinces.

The FCM acknowledges that “there’s no cookie-cutter solution” to housing issues and the organization works to put forward a “united front” on behalf of municipalities across the country while also recognizing the unique circumstances faced by each region.

Gerbasi is scheduled to take over as FCM president next month when the current one-year term for directors ends.

Along with a long-list of presentations over the weekend, the passing of resolutions and dealing with AYC business, a number of awards were presented.

Teslin Mayor Clara Jules was presented with the AYC’s highest honour – the annual Hanseatic Award.

It’s presented each year to “a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Yukon municipal government and furthered the goals of the Association of Yukon Communities.”

The work of municipal employees is also recognized by the AYC through the Municipal Employee Award of Excellence which “recognizes the contribution of an employee of a member community who has demonstrated an exceptional leave of professionalism, leadership and innovation in his/her job.”

Haines Junction treasurer Donna Istchenko was honoured with the award this year.

Finally, the Yukon Sustainable Community Award was presented to the City of Whitehorse for its work to have its compost certified as organic.

Next year’s AYC meeting and conference is slated for Dawson City.