Martensville City Councilor Jamie Martens is currently seeking her third term with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), with the election taking place on June 5th in Regina following the annual FCM Conference. FCM has been a voice for municipal government since 1901 and includes over 2,000 municipalities from across the country.
Since 2012, Martens has been a member of City Council in Martensville, currently serving her third term and through her role on Council, Martens was able to attend an FCM conference, which immediately piqued her interest in seeking a role within the organization in 2020. Each term lasts one year, and Saskatchewan has five available board member positions. Two of these positions are held by Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) and Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM). Another position is held strictly from the three major Saskatchewan cities; Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert. The two remaining spots are voted upon.
“I still have so much more advocating to do. My passion is to be one of the voices for Saskatchewan to bring forward issues and collaborate with other municipalities from across Canada,” Martens said.
Throughout her past two terms, Martens noted that being a part of the advocacy days in Ottawa was one of the biggest personal highlights. “This took place November 2021 with the board members attending meetings with MP’s as parliament was sitting and having the opportunity to watch as officials walking into the throne speech, as well as meeting multiple individuals with the same determination to better their communities with knowledge gained from each other,” Martens said.
Currently, Martens has a role as Vice Chair of the Rural Caucus, in addition to seven other committees within FCM. “I also hold a position as a governance representative for Canadian Woman in Local Leadership Project, as well as a gender based violence group which only consists of a few municipal leaders in Canada and other organization representatives. In this group, we hold educational sessions and workshops on multiple topics such as online harassment, bringing forward awareness in many areas of politics that need to be addressed,” explained Martens. “The rural caucus, as well as the other municipal committees, are all so important for Canadian municipalities.”
In order to run for a position on the FCM Board, individuals are required to play a role within their municipal government and receive endorsement from Council. At the May 3, 2022 Council meeting, a motion was passed to endorse Martens’ decision to stand for election on FCM’s Board of Directors.
“Our Mayor has been a great support as well as other Council members are very encouraging. I was happy to hear they unanimously agreed to having me run for the third term. I thank my Mayor and Council for their support, as well as the community. I am truly blessed to be involved in such important areas of politics. The best is to educate others about our great City.”
