The presidency of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities has moved from the northeastern corner of the province to the southwest.
David Marit, who farms with his family at Fife Lake, Sask., won a three-way race to replace Neal Hardy. Hardy, the reeve of the RM of Hudson Bay, opted not to run again after 10 years on the board, the last four as president.
Marit told reporters after the March 9 election that he was overwhelmed with his win.
“If somebody would’ve told me in 1999 when I came on the board that in 2006 I’d be seeking the presidency, I never would have thought that,” he said.
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“I’m as grassroots as they come. I’m just a farm boy, born and raised, that’s all I’ve done.”
He handily defeated Dave Rogers, from the RM of Meeting Lake, and Glenn Blakley, an RM of Spy Hill councillor who most recently spoke for the RMs withholding the education portion of their property taxes.
Marit said his immediate priority is to deal with the desperate situation on Saskatchewan farms. Federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl addressed the annual SARM convention and Marit said Strahl expressed his willingness to discuss the issue.
“I think following this convention we are going to try to have a meeting with him, see what we can do,” Marit said. “We definitely have to get some money into the farmers’ hands here real soon, before spring.”
Strahl said he knows the farm income projections for 2006 are “sobering” but he could not promise immediate money.
Marit suggested the number of government MPs from Saskatchewan will aid the cause. He pledged to work with other organizations for the benefit of rural Saskatchewan.
SARM already has a “phenomenal” working relationship with its urban counterparts, he said, and the door is open to working more closely with the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan. APAS grew out of a SARM convention but the two organizations have not always seen eye to eye.
Marit, 51, has been farming since 1975 with his wife Lois and brother Robert. He was first elected to the council of the RM of Willow Bunch in 1993, became director for Division 2 on the SARM board in 1999, and was elected vice-president in 2004.
Jim Hallick of Sturgis was acclaimed to fill the vice-president’s position, and Harvey Malanowich of Canora was acclaimed to replace Hallick in Division 4.
Also returned to the board were Don Taylor of Bredenbury in Division 1, Doug Steele of Gull Lake in Division 3 and Murray Purcell of Saskatoon in Division 5.
Meanwhile, Hardy was recognized throughout the three-day convention for his contribution to the province.
“It’s time to go,” he told reporters. “I’ll miss it.”
