Ian McCormack

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 – other than...

Imagine if a hockey team’s players and coaches decided they’d rather do each other’s jobs. How effective will that team be? The centre decides he’d be a good coach, so he swaps places with the head coach. The result is that we get an untested and possibly disastrous coach, and the new coach-become-centre gets beaten to the puck every time. Whether this is junior hockey or the NHL, this position swap will turn out badly, and the team will fail. The Ineffective Team This is a metaphor I’ve been...

Newfoundland and Labrador have recently had their municipal elections; Alberta’s are also complete. Next up is New Brunswick in the spring. As newly elected councillors, mayors, and reeves turn their attention to the next four years, and managers work with their councils to encourage and receive direction, governance needs to take root and be fertilized so it can thrive. There is a cascade of good governance that needs to be in place for a council and a municipality to be as exemplary as they...