Hanover youth member asks “reeve” or “mayor”?

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This article was published 06/02/2021 (1625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The RM of Hanover’ youth council member isn’t keeping silent about a topic she thinks could involve a younger generation in politics.

At the Jan. 27 Hanover council meeting, youth member Peyton Kehler gave a presentation about a survey she made to gauge public opinion about the title of the head of council. Kehler was wondering if residents preferred reeve or mayor, with a possible change to take place during the next municipal elections in 2022.

Kehler is a Grade 9 student at Steinbach Regional Secondary School.

Some nearby rural municipalities have decided to change the title of the heads of their respective councils to mayor from reeve, despite servicing largely rural populations.

“When I talk about what I do to my friends, very few of them know what a reeve is,” Kehler said, arguing younger people may be more politically engaged if they had a clear understanding of the titles of authorities.

Kehler said politics are in her family: she’s the daughter of Brad Kehler, chairman of Mitchell’s LUD committee. Peyton Kehler said Hanover’s youth member program has been an interesting experience, and it counts as school credit.

Kehler said the number of responses to the survey has been encouraging so far, and responses have been in the hundreds. Kehler said results will be released in coming weeks.

However, Kehler has an uphill battle to climb convincing Reeve Stan Toews to change his title. Toews said his prefers reeve.

“I’m old school I guess,” Toews said. The title reeve, Toews said, gives people an idea about the kind of area he represents. He said he associated reeve with rural municipalities and mayors with urban centres.

Toews commended Kehler’s efforts to appeal to students.

Kehler’s survey can be found on the RM of Hanover’s website.