The idea of amalgamating the municipalities of Morden, Winkler and the RM of Stanley into one entity may still be decades away.

While Morden Mayor Ken Wiebe recently gave a push towards beginning serious discussions on the matter, Winkler and the RM of Stanley remain unconvinced that now is the time.

"That is very futuristic, that is a long ways away before that ever comes to fruition," RM of Stanley Reeve Morris Olafson says.

While the three municipalities are working more closely together every year, Olafson says a true one community amalgamation is far off, "we'd have to grow a lot more before that happens."

RM of Stanley Council

The three communities are already partnered in a landfill, water cooperative, building inspections through MSTW, and tourism. The communities also share a regional hospital and are in talks of combining police forces and a waste water treatment strategy. Had the municipalities planned it, a regional fire hall could've been a possibility, Olafson suggests.

However, he says for now the idea is only a conversation piece.

Winkler Mayor Martin Harder says there have been no discussions behind the scenes of what amalgamation could look like. He says discussions can only be meaningful when no one's thinking, "what's in it for me?"

The cost of amalgamating is also daunting.

Winkler Mayor Martin Harder

"It wouldn't be reasonable for one area to take the brunt of the give, and another the brunt of the take," Harder says.

Yet the positives remain intriguing, Mayor Ken Wiebe says, as a single entity could surpass even Brandon in the next five years, becoming the second largest municipality in Manitoba.

"We're one of the economic engines of the Manitoba," he says. "And sometimes when we're in competition with each other we defeat the general purpose."

"As a combined municipality we could do much better."

Wiebe adds with the municipalities slowly encroaching on each other's borders, it makes sense to take the initiative rather than wait for amalgamation forced upon the region.

"It's just a thought that I had... we don't really know what it would look like, but the concept has merit," he says.

Morden Mayor Ken Wiebe