It’s rare that a week goes by when the topic of ‘good governance’ doesn’t come up in conversation somewhere. Sometimes it’s me questioning an elected officials about what those words mean to them, sometimes it’s the question going the other direction. Just as frequently, the topic emerges in some other context related to how a local government or other organization operates. It’s always perplexed me that we really don’t have a standard definition of what good governance means

Before the first faceoff at the World Juniors, teams decide how they want to show up. This time of year, councils have that same choice. It’s worth remembering that councils don’t just make decisions. They set the tone. That tone shows up everywhere, in council chambers, in staff offices, and around kitchen tables across the community. Late last year, I wrote about council not being a battlefield, but a family table. That idea still resonates. Families, like councils, don’t a

Last month, we spilled some ink about the federal budget, the new direction of federal finances, and the expected impact on local infrastructure. This month, we examine the issue from the other side – i.e. what should municipalities across Canada prioritize to take advantage of this new federal approach? In short, the Prime Minister himself said it best: “We used to build things in this country. Over our history, we have shown that we can come together to build big infrastruc