Cross-Canada Concerns

Over the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to present on the topic of ‘Addressing Incivility in the Municipal Sector’ to two very different groups in two very different parts of the country. Despite those differences, the concerns are the same – what can we do to address growing levels of incivility in the municipal world? While the focus is municipal, the same topic will resonate for anyone who’s involved in public service or likely even the service industry in general.

The first presentation was for the annual convention of the Local Government Administrators Association in Canmore, Alberta. This is a group of municipal managers from across the province. Many are CAOs, but just as many are other types of managers and leaders within the municipal structure.

The second presentation was for the Atlantic Mayors Congress, a gathering of chief elected officials from the four Atlantic provinces. This group is focused on delivering necessary programs and services in an efficient way, while being very aware that incivility is growing in their cities and towns.

In the end, I spoke with politicians and managers, with people from western Canada and people from the east coast. Their roles and cultures are different, but the scourge they face is the same.

The eventual need is for long-term culture change, but we also acknowledge that during the time between now and that ideal future state, there are things that we can do to manage this issue even if we can’t make it go away.

Making Progress

During the sessions, I speak about three needs. The first is to collectively define what harassment and abuse are in our municipal context. For example, concepts like bullying and abuse are at least somewhat individually subjective, at least until it comes to breaches of statute. Putting words to the problem at least lets us gain a common understanding of what’s going on.

From there, we need to understand why the problem is getting worse, and why the trend towards incivility is getting faster and faster, and finally to look at what we can do about it. This last topic breaks down into short-term actions and long-term outcomes, with the understanding that this change is going to take time to happen.

De-Escalation

Strategic Steps created a de-escalation guide as a tool people can use in the immediate instance of incivility, particularly within the formality of a council meeting.

During this time of thrust, parry, debate, and accusation, it can be difficult to determine what’s best to do. To help with that, our guide suggests five actions that can be taken:

• Set the Tone Early: Use a calm tone and neutral body language. Begin with a statement of conduct. Let participants speak and acknowledge their input.

• Stay Calm and Set Firm, Clear Boundaries: Don't match a participant's energy. Use level tone, open posture, and steady eye contact. Remind speakers to keep comments respectful. Use a warning system if needed.

• Redirect: Guide focus back to agenda and suggest offline follow-up.

• Pause if Needed: Call a short recess to de-escalate, regroup, consult staff, & reset the tone. Have trained staff or security nearby.

• Adjust as Needed: Debrief with staff, document incidents. Adjust future processes as needed.

• While this does not provide a panacea, it does provide a momentary respite until longer-term thinking can take over.

Model the Behaviour

One of the ‘must do’ actions that elected and appointed officials need is to act in the way that they expect others to act.  This is essentially the same as the Golden Rule, which we probably all learned as children. It is nearly impossible to meet harassment with harassment, or abuse with abuse, and to expect anything other than an escalation of the situation.

This wicked problem will take a long time to resolve, and I doubt we will ever go back to the days we long for, when public servants were seen and respected for the work they do and the value they add to their communities. Hopefully. There will come a point where the public demands good behaviour from their representatives and in turn, they put aside incivility as well.

Reflecting

Having now spoken to hundreds of people about this topic, and having had a good reception to my book (Un)Civil Society, I’m hopeful, but not idealistic. Everyone would prefer interactions based on goodwill, positive intention, and with a modicum of grace, and perhaps well get back to that one day.

Following Up

If you have a group for whom this message of tackling incivility and abuse would resonate, I’d love to come and speak with you. You can reach me at ian@strategicsteps.ca.