ESTEVAN - Jason LeBlanc says he had some unfinished business as the reeve of the RM of Estevan, and that's why he decided to seek his first full term in the role.
LeBlanc was acclaimed as reeve on Oct. 9, as he was the only person to submit nomination papers for the role. He became the reeve in August 2021 after Terry Keating resigned.
"I came in and got to know the job a little bit and understand the RM, and we've made huge improvements and many, many changes. We're moving forward. We want to be a progressive RM, and now we have many projects on the go," said LeBlanc.
Building roads, paving and getting infrastructure in place are all things the RM wants to do to make it a place to live and do business.
The RM has also improved the relationship with the city, and he's looking forward to meeting with what will be a new city council after the Nov. 13 civic election, as there will be at least four new members.
LeBlanc has been in on meetings regarding solar power, small modular reactors and coal mining and their future in the RM, and he thought now is not the time to step aside.
He said he's not disappointed he was elected by acclamation, and he hopes it's a sign that people think he's doing a good job.
"Not everybody likes it when change is made, so you're not going to get 100 per cent satisfaction when you make change, but we have a place and a purpose and reason to why we're making the changes, and I would think the majority of people understood once they gave us a call and had a talk," he said.
LeBlanc isn't surprised there won't be an election in the RM this fall, because he believes the councillors and the RMs do a good job of keeping the public engaged. They also avoided tax increases during his term.
Also acclaimed were incumbent Councillors Kevin Daoust (Division 3) and Ramona Dukart (Division 5), and first-time candidate Suzanne McNabb (Division 1).
McNabb replaces her father, Lorne Jahn, who had been on council for 31 years. LeBlanc noted McNabb is the fourth generation of her family to represent Division 1, as her father, grandfather and great-grandfather were also in the role.
"I can't say enough good about Lorne. He was so good in there, and helped us on so many things … and he certainly knew the history, and kept us on the straight when I came with an idea that maybe had already been invented 30 years ago, he knew it."
As for the next four years, LeBlanc said he has been in discussions "and battles" with SaskPower and the Water Security Agency on a couple of roads in the RM. One is the Shand Access Road from Highway 39 to the Shand Power Station, which is a paved road that LeBlanc said was never done properly.
"Ground is shifting. It's built on top of open pit mining, and it needs to be … redone and rebuilt."
The other would be the road that runs from Highway 39 to Highway 18 and crosses Rafferty Reservoir.
"We definitely want the top of that dam fixed and redone, but we want that entire road from Highway 18 to 39 to have some care put into it. We've spent an enormous amount of money over the years trying to grade it and make sure it's done properly but it's tough. That's a tough road, it's a busy road."
The remaining members of the RM council are Don Hilstrom (Division 2), James Trobert (Division 4) and Steve Smith (Division 6). These divisions will be up for election in 2026.
