Local Government In Canada Research Articles

Breaking path dependency? Factors to enhance capacity for rural local governments in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

ABSTRACT Path dependency, often coinciding with the downloading of various responsibilities with reduced funding from higher levels of governments during the neoliberal era, has led to capacity challenges for rural local governments to pursue sector diversification activities. Despite these challenges, research has indicated that, through entrepreneurial efforts, breaking path dependency is possible. Drawing from Staples Theory, Evolutionary Economic Geography, New Public Management, and New Localism as well as primary data from key informant interviews, this paper identifies five factors that influence the capacity of rural local governments to break path dependency. In doing so, it identifies a relationship between New Localism and local governments, and its potential as a bridge for rural economic development. These findings are important, as they contribute to the limited but growing literature related to New Localism and its potential applications for rural local governments in Canada to facilitate economic development.

Understanding government discourses on social media: Lessons from the use of YouTube at local level1

Local Governments around the world have taken advantage of social media during the past ten years to improve transparency and to provide public services. Challenges related to information management and citizen participation have emerged, namely at the local level where the diffusion of social media has been slower compared to initiatives launched at the national level. This paper analyzes how the use of social media can reflect a change in the discursive exchanges established between local governments in Canada and Mexico and citizens. To achieve this goal, the use of YouTube by the municipalities of Quebec and Morelia was examined by using digital methods and content analysis. The author proposes the emergence of new conditions between government and users, which are changing the discourse, identity, and communication purposes of the municipalities. However, the development of more dialogic communication processes supported by social media is still a promise, at least on YouTube.

Know-how to lead digital transformation: The case of local governments

Local governments are in an ideal position to integrate government, private, and citizen data to deliver beneficial new digitally enabled public services. However, progress toward achieving the benefits has stagnated in many cases. This is because managers lack the requisite know-how to lead the implementation and enactment of integrated enterprise systems to improve the processes of public service delivery, part of a journey called ‘digital transformation’. If digital transformations are to progress, we need more nuanced empirical elaboration of the know-how managers require. To that end, this study reports evidence from case studies in 11 local governments in Canada. The findings provide the empirical basis for a theory of the know-how managers require to lead the implementation and enactment of integrated enterprise systems in support of digital transformation. We then propose a new theoretical model of how to transfer that requisite know-how to managers through public-private partnerships, and thereby mitigate barriers to that transfer.

O controle público da energia elétrica: primórdios no Canadá

Nesse artigo abordaremos a disputa em torno da produção e distribuição de eletricidade entre governos locais do Canadá e acionistas e diretores de empresas privadas, aos fins do século 19. Questionava-se se o serviço seria implantado e explorado por um monopólio privado ou por instâncias de governo. A gestão municipal foi resultado do movimento Populismo Cívico, que defendia que as companhias de serviços deveriam ser totalmente públicas e, da consequente criação da Hydro-Electric Power Commission em Ontário, para distribuição de energia em 1906 e geração e venda em 1914. Os eventos ocorridos no Canadá alarmaram contra a nacionalização das utilities os investidores e diretores em Toronto e no Brasil da holding Brazilian Traction, retirando do país a tomada de decisões e a administração dos lucros.

Multilevel policy from the municipal perspective: A pan‐Canadian survey

AbstractBuilding on in‐depth case studies and extensive theory‐building by Canadian multilevel governance scholars, this article identifies and describes multilevel policy involvement by federal, provincial, municipal, private, and NGO actors in three policy phases and eighteen policy domains that specifically involve local governments in Canada. Drawing from an original pan‐Canadian survey of municipal mayors and councillors, we show that municipal politicians see multilevel policy involvement as remarkably prevalent across many policy domains. Using an original measure of multilevel policy involvement, we identify the policy domains in which policy involvement is most concentrated or fragmented and then describe the correlates of this measure. Multilevel policy involvement, we argue, is more clearly associated with policy phase and policy domain than with municipal population or region. We conclude with a discussion of implications for future research.

Voices in the cloud: social media and trust in Canadian and US local governments

PurposeThis study aims to examine how 20 local governments in Canada and the USA operationalize the government–citizen trust relationship through the administration of social media by answering two questions: Can local governments use social media to increase citizen trust? and if local governments can use social media, what can be learned about the administration of social media that results in an increase in citizen trust of government?Design/methodology/approachBased on a normative belief that increasing the trustworthiness of government is a desired outcome, the working proposition is that social media may offer a low-barrier method for engaging citizens and supporting trust-based relationships, if social media programs are administered in a way that operationalizes this objective. Using content analysis of data collected from interview transcripts and documentary sources, this exploratory, process-oriented study emphasizes the social, organizational and functional contexts of social media and social media as records.FindingsThe study found that most cities had extensive programs featuring multiple accounts on a number of common platforms. The cities maintained tight control over content, account creation and employee and audience participation to ensure compliance with federal and provincial or state legislation and to mitigate technology and content-based risks. The cities used social media to broadcast information, respond to service requests and provide issue management. Social media results were measured sporadically on an ad hoc basis for operational purposes and only two cities had dedicated procedures in place for managing social media as records. Contrary to previous research, this study indicates that fiduciary trust relationships do require trust by the agent (i.e. institution) and the principal (i.e. citizen).Research limitations/implicationsTo increase generalizability, an effort was made to select cities that were demographically and geographically diverse by selecting a range of population sizes and locations. However, selection was skewed towards cities with well-developed social media programs, and as a result, over half of the cities were national, provincial or state capitals or larger population centres. While these cities experienced economic advantages, the participants in the study identified challenges around resourcing and capacity, and their responses are expected to be of value to cities operating under similar constraints. Additionally, this study represents a point in time, as social media use at the local governments continued to expand and evolve during and after the data collection period.Practical implicationsThis paper identifies three scenarios where social media content from local government accounts should be managed as records, including: the documentation of incidents, the on-going collection of city content from high-profile accounts and the “on demand” collection of citizens’ content where cities have asked for citizen input on topics or issues.Social implicationsThis study provides an in-depth characterization of social media administration and use by 20 local governments in Canada and the USA. Considering the progress made by cities in e-government using their websites as a base, cities can develop greater capacity for open government, meaning wider participation by citizens in the decisions that affect them on a daily basis. To achieve goals of transparency, accountability and civic participation, cities will need to develop capacity around social media measurement, reporting and procedures for managing social media as records.Originality/valueIn providing a detailed and complete description of social media use in 20 cities in two countries, this study moves beyond a compliance- and requirement-driven approach to consider the larger question of government–citizen trust and the relevance of records within this relationship.

A sizeable effect? Municipal council size and the cost of local government in Canada

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between council size and municipal expenditures in Quebec's largest municipalities. Two claims commonly found in the literature are tested: the professionalization and the law of 1/n hypotheses. Using cross‐sectional data, the professionalization hypothesis is confirmed: each elected official costs more in a smaller council. As for the law of 1/n, the effect of council size on total government expenditures is not significant. These results refute the cost saving argument for smaller councils and suggest that other aspects, such as quality of democratic life and efficiency in decision‐making, may be more relevant to the debate.

Explaining the Emergence of Indigenous–Local Intergovernmental Relations in Settler Societies

There has been growing interest among practitioners and academics in the emergence of intergovernmental relations between local and Aboriginal governments in Canada. Initial research has focused on describing the nature of these relations but has yet to develop any theoretical expectations regarding why some communities are more likely to cooperate than others. We address this lacuna by developing a theoretical framework for explaining the emergence of cooperation between Aboriginal and local governments. After identifying a set of variables and specifying how they are likely to affect the propensity of communities to cooperate, we conclude with a discussion of how future researchers might use this framework to investigate cooperation and noncooperation between Aboriginal and local governments in Canada and in other settler societies.

Taming Disorderly People One Ticket at a Time: The Penalization of Homelessness in Ontario and British Columbia

In the last two decades, provincial and local governments in Canada took a new series of measures to regulate urban disorder and control how public spaces were used by homeless people. Ontario became the first province to adopt new legislation with the passage of the Safe Streets Act, 1999. British Columbia soon followed the same path and enacted its own Safe Streets Act in 2004. This article focuses on the enforcement of the Safe Streets Act in Ontario and BC. Using quantitative data on tickets delivered to homeless people, it examines the extent of the penalization of homeless populations and establishes trends in the application of these statutes in both provinces. It concludes that the application reflects tensions around the visibility of homeless people in public spaces, particularly relating to squeegeeing, in both Ontario and British Columbia.

The Limits and Opportunities of Networks: Municipalities and Canadian Climate Change Policy

AbstractResearch on climate change policy and politics has become increasingly focused on the actions and influence of subnational governments. In North America, this attention has been particularly focused on why subnational governments have taken action in the absence of national leadership, what effect action might have on future national climate policy, and whether the collective action of networks of municipal governments are reshaping and challenging the character of national and global climate governance. This paper examines Canadian municipal climate in light of the absence of a comprehensive and effective climate national strategy. The paper considers various reasons why local governments in Canada have not been central players in national plans, and why their actions have not been more influential nationally. The paper argues that the potential influence of Canadian municipalities on national climate policy is weak, given the loose nature of the network and the long‐held structural view that municipalities are not significant units of political analysis in national political and policy debates. The paper concludes by considering the constraints and opportunities of subnational climate networks and municipal network analysis.

Local Government in Canada By C. RICHARD TINDAL AND SUSAN NOBES TINDA, 7th ed.

Local Government in Canada <i>By</i> C. RICHARD TINDAL AND SUSAN NOBES TINDA, 7th ed.

Time for Municipal Elder Rights Law: An Anglo-Canadian Perspective

In an age of globalization and privatization, local governments and municipalities are searching to define their social role and place. In an aging society such as Canada, arguing that promoting the legal rights of older persons should be part of the legal authority of the municipal government is not simple. It is easier to abide by the position that, without an efficient centralized machinery, social and environmental problems will remain unsolved or unaddressed. This article presents a different understanding of the place of municipal government in Canada. The goal of this article is to present an original legal-policy argument: It is time for local communities and local governments in Canada to use their legal authorities to enact local bylaws that define and establish the rights of their older citizens. The argument maintains that local municipalities hold the legal power and the social potential to make a significant contribution in the legal sphere for promotion of the rights of older people, and that this power has been neglected. The article supports the argument on three pillars: (1) an empirical analysis of bylaws in different municipalities across Canada; (2) a socio-legal analysis of the advantages of municipal law as a tool for social change; (3) a case analysis of a recent municipal legal reform in British Columbia.

Municipal Reform in Canada: Reconfiguration, Re-Empowerment, and Rebalancing

Municipal Reform in Canada: Reconfiguration, Re-Empowerment, and Rebalancing, Joseph Garcea and Edward C. LeSage, Jr., eds., Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. ix, 350.This book will be an essential reference for students of local government in Canada. It deals with the most recent period of municipal reform, from 1990 onwards. There are chapters on each of the ten provinces, plus a combined chapter on the northern territories. The editors establish an analytical framework for the book in their introduction, and then try to bring things together in a long concluding chapter. The individual chapters differ somewhat in approach, but the editors were fairly successful in getting the contributors to keep to a common analytical framework. Reading the whole book straight through is a bit of a slog, because there is so much detail; on the other hand, it is handy to have all this material collected together. It will stimulate useful reflection, as much about what is not here as what is.

Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton

Children, Youth and Environments 15(2), 2005 Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton Bob Yates Yates, Thorn & Associates Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Citation: Yates, Bob. (2005). “Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton.” Children, Youth and Environments 15(2): 371-377. . Comment on This Article Abstract Few Canadian cities have taken their commitments to children and young people more seriously than the City of Edmonton. The City has recognized that the local government agency in Edmonton must take the lead in promoting the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The firm of Yates, Thorn & Associates, a Victoria, British Columbia-based social planning consultancy, was hired by the City of Edmonton to help develop specific aspects of its Children’s Services Framework. This report describes the development of a Child Impact Assessment Tool. Keywords: Child-friendly cities, child impact assessment tool, Canada© 2005 Children, Youth and Environments Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton 372 Background The demands on local governments in Canada and elsewhere to provide effective services for children and youth are increasing along many dimensions: • The expectations of parents and others regarding the range and quality of services are expanding. • More children are living in poverty now than at any time in the past. Their need for services is even greater than that of those children who have the ability to pay. • Federal and provincial governments are downloading services onto local governments, and providing funding for new services such as childcare. At the same time, they frequently adopt legal (such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)) or promotional (such as Alberta’s Promise) frameworks which local governments are required to follow. • Multiple agencies are increasingly involved as partners in the delivery of services. This is positive, but also demanding of time and resources. • The value of all services is constantly being evaluated and in some cases questioned by a tax-conscious public. • Communities are focusing more on outputs than inputs. The question is no longer “how many hockey practices did you attend?” but rather “did you win the game?” or at the very least “how well did you play?” When all this is put together with the inherent vulnerability and lack of political power of children and youth, it requires local governments to include frameworks and processes in their policy making that consistently and continually prompt the question, “What will be the impact on children and youth?” The City of Edmonton recognized that this question must be addressed as part of the implementation of its Children's Services Framework. Consequently, the City of Edmonton Community Services Department requested Yates, Thorn & Associates1 to develop a Child Impact Assessment Tool: a “lens” through which the impact of programs, policies and initiatives on children and youth could be examined. Early discussion made it clear that the Child Impact Assessment process must be: • Practical - it must be simple to use, providing a set of functional tools for city administrators and elected officials. • Visible - it must act to reinforce the need for a broad range of services for children and youth. • Visionary - it must be far-sighted in its vision of services for children, with the goal of putting Edmonton at the leading edge of child-friendly cities. Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton 373 To meet these objectives, it must be designed to: • Educate various groups about children’s services. These groups include internal department and city staff, councilors, external agency staff and volunteers, as well as the general public. • Advocate for a child-friendly Edmonton. This implies a more proactive approach focused not just on “means” but also on “ends.” • Integrate child-focused efforts into the business planning processes of the City. The Child Impact Assessment will only be effective in the long term if it is a part of the machinery of government. • Focus on the key issues of importance to the children and youth of Edmonton, which had been identified through consultation with children and adults during the development of the Children’s Services Framework. Moving Edmonton towards Being a “Child...

Innovation and Improvement in the Delivery of Public Services: The Use of Quality Management Within Local Government in Canada

Local government in Canada has been subject to considerable change in the 1990s. In response, a number of mechanisms have been adopted to improve performance and respond to citizen and customer demands. One particular mechanism quality management, has received considerable continuing support. This article documents the level of use of quality management within local government in Canada, discusses some of the key challenges of introducing this type of program, and, outlines some elements of success of those programs in public management.

Jack Masson with Edward C. LeSage Jr. Alberta's local governments: politics and democracy C. Richard Tindal and Susan Nobes Tindal. Local government in Canada

Jack Masson with Edward C. LeSage Jr. <i>Alberta's local governments: politics and democracy</i> C. Richard Tindal and Susan Nobes Tindal. <i>Local government in Canada</i>

The Processes of Reorganizing Local Government in Canada

AbstractOf all the levels of the state or government in Canada, the local one is the most often subjected to structural change or reorganization. The processes by which that change occurs—or by which it is postponed or avoided—are the focus of this article. In particular, the consequences of choosing one process of change rather than another are explored. After developing a framework to define and explore the processes of change, the article proceeds to analyze 81 instances between 1953 and 1983 in which reorganization of local government in Canada either actually occurred or was merely proposed.

The local state in Canada: theoretical perspectives

Studies of government at the local level tend to be focused on the municipalities. To understand the full range of institutions at this level, a broader conception of the “local state” is required. The latter refers to the state in so far as it is present in and concerned with the local community, and thus it encompasses local agencies of the central state as well as local governments. To conceive of the local state in this way allows for a critical assessment of competing theories of local government in Canada. The latter describe local institutions variously as the third order of government, agencies for special purposes, the local public economy, or local apparatuses of the state. All but the first draw attention to non‐municipal agencies at the local level, but none give an adequate account of the structure and functions of the local state as a whole. What is required is a theory that takes the pressure for local self‐government seriously, and is sensitive to both geographical variation and historical change.

Challenging Tomorrow Today: Insights into Municipal AdministrationJohn C. Joyce, ed. Montreal: Renouf Publishing Company Limited, 1979, pp. v, 330 - The Management of Canadian Urban Government: A Basic Text for a Course in Urban ManagementT. J. Plunkett and G. M. Betts Kingston: Institute of Local Government, Queen's University, 1978, pp. xv, 304 - Local Government in Canada: An IntroductionC. R.

Challenging Tomorrow Today: Insights into Municipal AdministrationJohn C. Joyce, ed. Montreal: Renouf Publishing Company Limited, 1979, pp. v, 330 - The Management of Canadian Urban Government: A Basic Text for a Course in Urban ManagementT. J. Plunkett and G. M. Betts Kingston: Institute of Local Government, Queen's University, 1978, pp. xv, 304 - Local Government in Canada: An IntroductionC. R. Tindal and S. Nobes Tindal Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1979, pp. xv, 159 - Volume 13 Issue 4

Comment/Commentaire

I should like to congratulate Alan Cairns on his splendid analysis of the introductory texts on Canadian government in the March 1974 issue of the Journal (“Alternative Styles in the Study of Canadian Politics”). It should be required reading for all phd students of Canadian government and politics. In fact, I think it should also be read by all undergraduates, so that they would be aware of the particular slant of the text that they are using.Perhaps the reason I am so favourably impressed by the piece, in addition to the sophisticated style in which it is written, is that I agree with nearly everything he says. In particular, I agree with his favourable portrayal of the historical-institutional approach to the study of Canadian government and politics. But this may be just an indication that he and I belong to the same older generation.I certainly agree that all of the texts are deficient in their treatment of provincial and local government and politics and in their use of French-Canadian materials and points of view, and feel that the authors’ replies to his article did not adequately justify these deficiencies. I believe that he missed an important reason for the concentration of our interest on the federal level. A main reason for this, and for the lack of scholarly research on provincial and local government in Canada, was simply that Dawson's text omitted provincial and local government entirely.