Members of Prince George city council are joining thousands of local government representatives this weekend to converge on Edmonton for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual convention.
The event, running June 5-8, features workshops, seminars and face-to-face interaction with municipal and federal government leaders from across the country.
Federal attention is expected to be high at this year's conference, as it is the last large gathering of local government officials before this fall's general election.
"We're going to be pushing back really hard, too, because our message this year for the election readiness is any political party that doesn't have a serious plan for municipalities doesn't have a serious plan," said Coun. Garth Frizzell, who sits on the FCM board of directors.
Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Conservative Finance Minister Joe Oliver will all give keynote addresses to convention delegates over the course of the weekend.
In addition to those keynote addresses will be an additional forum hosted by FCM president and Fredericton mayor Brad Woodside, where representatives from those four federal parties will also be asked to lay out their vision for working with municipalities.
Representing the Liberals will be Toronto MP Adam Vaughan, Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen for the NDP, Calgary MP Michelle Rempel for the Conservatives, and May for the Greens.
There's more firepower behind FCM's election agenda, said Frizzell, with a higher level of background research conducted over the years.
"We're not just coming up and saying 'we think infrastructure's critical,' we're able to point to the numbers and say 'this is how important it is to the constituents who are going to be voting for your argument first.' And that puts a pretty sharp edge on it," said Frizzell. "It really highlights the fact that municipal issues are important to voters and they're the same voters who bring in the federal representatives."
Frizzell will be facing his own election this weekend, as he seeks his eighth term on the FCM board of directors.
He will also be speaking at a Saturday morning workshop with International Trade Minister Ed Fast about how the role municipalities can play within businesses and all levels of government to put the country in a strong position when the European Union markets are open for trade.
"Federal governments have never recognized municipalities in this way before," Frizzell said, of the acknowledgment that local governments are "central to trade and investment from overseas."
