CAMA TO ADVOCATE FOR THE CAO PROFESSION - STRONG MAYOR'S LEGISLATION

On August 10th, 2022, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced his plan to expand “strong mayor” powers to other municipalities in addition to the cities of Toronto and Ottawa. This would give Mayors, instead of Council, the ability to prepare and table City budgets, appoint a Chief Administrative Officer and hire and fire Department Heads (except for statutory appointments such as an Auditor General, Police Chief or Fire Chief). The Mayor can use their veto power when its consistent with a provincial priority. The Council could override the Mayor's veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

On September 8, 2022, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario held the third-reading vote on Bill 3, Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. The Bill passed with 74 ayes and 31 nays. The Bill will come into effect on November 15, 2022, the first day of office for new Councils.  

The CAMA Board is concerned about this legislation being extended to municipalities beyond the City of Toronto and the City of Ottawa, and how it might put at risk the fundamental tenant of good governance, the neutral role of the CAO, and other key senior administrative staff across Canada. 

A Taskforce has been struck to review the Strong Mayor's legislation from a national perspective and deliver a White Paper to support the CAO profession. It is expected that this document will be rolled out in the first quarter of the new year. We anticipate there will be an opportunity to comment, however if you have any thoughts or perspectives on this this topic that you would like to share at this time, please contact Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director at [email protected]. 

Virtual National Forum for CAMA Members: 

“The Evolving Landscape of Public Procurement: 

ESGs - Do They Matter?"

Hosted by The Canoe Procurement Group of Canada

As part of our ongoing commitment to our members we are pleased to introduce you to a Virtual National Forum, hosted by CAMA’s Platinum Partner, The Canoe Procurement Group of Canada. This opportunity is free to you and your employees so please share this information.

This forum “The Evolving Landscape of Public Procurement: ESGs - Do They Matter?" with speaker Tyler Hannemann, Manager of Supplier Relations, will be held on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST.

Who Can Attend this Webinar?:  CAMA Members and Their Employees. Non-Members are also welcome to attend.

Who Will Benefit from this Webinar: Chief Administrative Officers, Financial Officers, Purchasing Staff, Public Works and Engineering Staff, Fleet Staff.

Registration Cost: FREE but registration is required at [email protected] 

About this Session:

With the increasing awareness around environmental and social issues, including how organizations are governed, we have witnessed a change in philosophy around what drives a purchase. As regulations surrounding these topics have come into place on the global and national scale, the public sector has answered, leaving customers inundated with sustainability reports. But what do these reports actually mean? And should governmental agencies place a weight on ESGs during a tender process? Join us to learn about ESGs and their role in procurement.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW BUSINESS PARTNERS

HotSpot Parking helps agencies connect to the digital commuter of today with a wide range of products including Mobile Pay, QR Code Technology, Digital Parking Permits, License Plate Recognition, Citation Management, Transit and more. HotSpot Parking provides value in continuous improvement of automating manual processes, minimizing hardware requirements, and promoting an economical and sustainable digital first approach to paid parking. To contact us visit the CAMA website.

Entandem simplifies the music licensing process for municipalities, businesses, and other organizations in Canada by working with them to ensure they can use any type of music in their community facilities and/or at their events, legally and ethically. In doing so, Entandem helps to make sure that music owners earn royalties for their work. To become a valuable partner in music, e-mail our industry relations team, visit our website or contact us at the CAMA website.

UPCOMING CAMA OPPORTUNITIES

CAMA Connects - October 19, 2022

CAMA Connects is a one-hour facilitated informal social networking event for regular members to still make those “face to face” connections and discuss a pressing municipal issue. This session will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST and the topic will be "Managing a Hybrid Workforce."  There is still time to register for this session. Please e-mail Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director at [email protected]

2023 CAMA Annual Conference

The Board and Program Sub-Committee are working on the final touches to the Conference Program which will be launched in mid-January 2023 along with the on-line registration. The hotel room block for the May 29-31, 2023 CAMA Conference at the Deerhurst Resort is open. If you haven't booked your room yet visit the Conference website for details.

2023 Conference Scholarships

In recognition of the importance of promoting professional development opportunities for members, the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators established the CAMA Scholarship Program. Through the Scholarship Program, CAMA provides eight scholarships for the registration fee (in the amount of $725.00) for the Annual Conference (two to young professionals pursuing a career in local government; two to members working in municipalities located north of the 60th parallel; two to members from smaller municipalities, and two to new Chief Administrative Officers.)  New this year is the category for new Chief Administrative Officers that have been in their role for under five years.  Watch for details in your inbox soon. 

Expression of Interest for the 2023 CAMA Awards of Excellence Jury

The 2023 CAMA Awards of Excellence Program will be launched in January 2023 and this year's Jury is chaired by Vincent Lalonde, Board Representative for British Columbia and City Manager for the City of Surrey.  We are seeking five additional CAMA members to sit on the Jury and the Expression of Interest will be sent out soon. Watch your inbox for this opportunity! 

CAMA'S Top 10 Tips on Political Acumen / 10 conseils pratiques de perspicacité politique

Political acumen requires situational knowledge across a diversity of municipal landscapes. However, there are some truths that apply throughout.

CAMA's "Top 10 Tips for Political Acumen", as outlined in our Political Acumen Toolkit, provide ways to demonstrate political acuity including integrity, the roles of Council and staff, priorities, trust, respect and transparency - just to name a few. 

This postcard is a great resource to provide to your Council at the beginning of their term or anytime throughout the year. It can be printed and given to each Council member or forwarded by e-mail.  Download your copy here.

Pour développer la perspicacité politique, il faut avoir une bonne connaissance de plusieurs situations possibles dans une variété d’administrations municipales, mais il existe des vérités qui s’appliquent dans tous les cas.

La liste de « 10 conseils pratiques de perspicacité politique » figurant dans la Trousse d’outils de perspicacité politique de l’ACAM suggère des moyens de développer l’habileté politique, notamment en ce qui concerne l’intégrité, les rôles du conseil et du personnel, les priorités, la confiance, le respect et la transparence. Cette carte postale constitue une excellente ressource que vous pouvez proposer à votre conseil en début de mandat ou à tout moment de l’année. Vous pouvez l’imprimer et la remettre à chaque membre du conseil ou la faire suivre par courriel.   Téléchargez votre copie ici.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - DEVELOPMENT OF A LEADERSHIP GUIDE FOR COUNCIL-CAO RELATIONSHIP

The CAMA Board has been considering several opportunities to assist our members through the lifecycle of their careers. During our recent Strategic Planning session, it was clear that the topic of CAO/Council Relations and ensuring that the elected officials understand their policy role versus the CAO/administrative and operations role, was top of mind. It’s never easy, and it’s never clear, who’s to navigate, and who’s to steer in any size municipality.

CAMA is seeking assistance from a professional consultant with local government experience to prepare a short guide to support the Chief Administrative Officer in keeping the elected officials focused on their policy role and out of the operations. The primary audience for this toolkit is the Chief Administrative Officer position with the secondary audience being the Mayor and Councils. This should be a resource that can be communicated to both audiences through a variety of channels (i.e. paper, brochure, on the website as a PDF document, webinar, presentation at a Conference, etc.). This guide will be available to CAMA members and housed in the Member’s Section of the website. It is the intent that this guide is a short, concise document that will provide the audiences with a quick and useful resource. It is not intended to be a comprehensive detailed overview of the Council/CAO relationship.

If you know of a professional consultant or any individuals that may be interested in this project, please contact Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director, at [email protected] for the Request for Proposals document.  The deadline for submission is Friday, October 21, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. Atlantic Time.

WELCOME NEW CAMA MEMBERS

Leanne MacEachen, Chief Administrative Officer, Municipality of the County of Victoria, NS