He spent 20 years with the organization, including nine as president
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A familiar face representing rural Saskatchewan communities is ready to begin the next chapter of his life,
Ray Orb, who spent 20 years with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), including nine as its president, is stepping down from that role at the end of the month.
“When I announced that I wasn’t running again in my own RM (of Cupar), I thought it was time to step down to give our board a chance to fill in my responsibilities,” he told Farms.com. “My wife and I also have three grown children, and we have grandchildren. I want to start slowing down and spending more time with my family.”
Orb joined SARM in 2004 when he was elected as Division 2 Director.
He got involved to help ensure fairness in the education tax on farmland.
“We thought there was a real unfairness,” he said. “I think my RM was the highest in the province, at over 23 mills, and the local school board at that time had the authority to levy their own education tax mill rate. I thought SARM should take a leading role on this issue.”
SARM held a rally at the provincial legislature in June 2004 where it presented Premier Lorne Calvert with a petition signed by more than 14,000 people requesting tax reductions on rural properties.
“We really put pressure on the government of the day,” Orb said. “It took a few years, but the government finally changed the tax and it’s a lot fairer now.”
The provincial government announced education tax changes in 2009 and in 2011.
And some of the issues rural communities faced all those years ago are the same challenges they must navigate today.
Unionized workers at CN and CPKC are heading towards a work stoppage later this month.
In 2004, more than 5,000 CN rail workers held a 29-day strike which the company estimated cost it around $35 million.
“Those strikes really hurt our rural communities and our farmers,” Orb said. “We’ve lobbied the federal government to declare grain movement by rail an essential service, so our farmers aren’t held hostage.”
Rural crime, though in better shape than it was years ago, is still an issue too, Orb added.
Orb became SARM’s president in 2015.
An item he considers a highlight of his tenure is helping improve knowledge transfer between peers.
“I think the better learning opportunities and communications that we have in place now are really important,” he said. “I think the board is more transparent now because of governance changes, and I think our board as a whole has done a great job of garnering respect in Saskatchewan and Ottawa.”
He credits any success at SARM and in municipal politics to a personal belief that listening is important.
“To me, listening to what people have to say is far more successful than telling people what to do,” he said. “There’s lots of problems out there, but when you can listen to someone and get to the root of the issue, that’s when you can start working on a solution.”
With Orb’s departure, Bill Huber becomes the acting president of SARM.
An official search for a new president will start in January 2025, with the election occurring at the SARM Annual Convention in March.