Representatives from the Town of Carman and R.M. of Dufferin took part in an inter-municipal meeting Thursday hosted by Midland MLA Blaine Pedersen. In fact, the gathering included officials from each community within the constituency.

R.M. of Dufferin Reeve George Grey says it was an opportunity to ask questions of the MLA, as well as learn what to expect from government in the future.

"The Manitoba Road Improvement hasn't been ratified yet but he expects that it will be."

He adds there was also some good discussion around the province's recent mandate to Manitoba school divisions.

"They had the one per-cent mandate from the Pallister government that they better get their house in order. There was some good discussion there and everybody was very cognizant that that should be respected."

As for Dufferin-specific items, Grey says there was nothing he wanted to bring up in open forum but enjoyed the opportunity to rub shoulders with other municipal leaders in the region. He noted that he left the gathering with the confidence knowing that Pedersen is there to help municipalities, and added it's quite a privilege to have the ear of their local MLA who also serves as Manitoba's Infrastructure Minister and as a member of the treasury board.

"It's really an opportunity to have our concerns voiced right to the main hub of the government, we're very fortunate. We won't get treated different than anyone else, and I don't expect that, but it's just the opportunity to voice our concerns directly to the minister."

Meantime, Carman Mayor Bob Mitchell says Thursday's meeting was interesting.

"You meet people that you haven't met before, you hear of problems that are the same problems that we have and that everybody else has, so you've got a common interest."

Mitchell adds he had the chance for a brief one-on-one talk with Pedersen.

"We talked about our road through town, our personal care home, Manitoba Hydro and some of the activities that are going on around Carman, and Manitoba Housing and the new program they (the province) are looking at to get more involvement of local communities in their housing facilities, similar to what's been done in Winkler."