Mayor Povaschuk reflects mid term

By Gwen Snell
Freelance Journalist

Elected by acclamation in October 2021, Mayor Danny Povaschuk was asked to reflect upon his role as Mayor for the Town of Hanna halfway through his term.

Entering back into municipal politics was not a decision taken lightly by Mayor Povaschuk. But he firmly believes “that if you want to speak, you should step forward and make a difference. Following Chris (Mayor Chris Warwick) will be a big challenge as he did a great job”. His desire to make a difference was matched by his previous experience serving on the municipal council while residing in Elk Point and the fact that he operates his own business. “The Town is just a big business that should be operated as such.”

Stepping into the role, he was aware that there would be challenges. “We were still in Covid, and the GFL (Green For Life Environmental Inc.) site had just started operations. We had a number of staff retiring and some contracts that were coming to an end.”  When asked if his expectations or understanding was different from just over two years ago, he responded: “No, there are some passionate people in town that always keep you on your toes. Our staff have done a good job of making the mayor position a manageable one.”

The one thing that has surprised Mayor Povaschuk is “the lack of trust that some people have in municipal politicians. I do understand that trust is something that is earned, but we are trying hard to accomplish this. Not everyone is going to have the same opinion; the challenge is to try to respect everyone’s.” This surprise is also his biggest challenge or disappointment to date: “People not doing their research on a perceived issue, and back to the lack of trust thing.”

Some challenges are not unique to the Town of Hanna but are being faced by local municipalities across Alberta. “all communities are struggling with aging infrastructure and the lack of sufficient funding to maintain what we have. There seems to be more and more pressure put on communities as government shifts costs to them. A bigger portion of the policing costs are being put on communities. Our fire departments are doing a lot of medical aid calls because we don’t have ambulances available.”

Mayor Povaschuk is well-versed in the challenges, but he is also aware of the many positives in the community. Associating with other elected officials outside of Hanna reflects that Hanna does have many advantages. “We are super fortunate to have the relationship we have with Special Areas – a lot of towns don’t have this.”

And Hanna continues to draw from across Canada, according to Mayor Povaschuk: “We are holding our own. We seem to be drawing people into the community from all ove….”  When he inquired with one newcomer who stopped at his business as to what attracted their family to Hanna,  the response was, “Hanna has everything that they needed.”

Looking ahead, there are two big projects for the next two years with this council. Downtown revitalization this summer and the overlay of Palliser and Pioneer Trails are scheduled for 2025.

Mayor Povaschuk admits that the role of Mayor is an active one, often including the many requests to attend various events or functions. With such an active and diverse community, this could become a burden for some, but Mayor Povaschuk does not see it that way at all. While he admits that the functions “don’t always happen at times that are convenient for me, but I knew what I signed up for. I do enjoy being involved.”

Looking forward two years from now, Mayor Povaschuk would like to see that this council has been able to “maintain or see some growth in our community.” When asked if he thought he might run again, he did not hesitate: “Yes, I will run again. I would like to see some of the groundwork we‘re putting into place come to fruition.”