Hello from sunny (then dark and windy, then sunny again) Calgary. I’m here for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference, and while I’ve been sick the whole time (this mask is starting to chafe!) the conference has been almost as restorative and reinvigorating as I had hoped. It’s hard to describe how just being inContinue reading “Hello from FCM 2024”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Official Plan Updates
Last night I attended a County public consultation about their draft Official Plan update, perhaps one of the most esoteric and boring events I can imagine…and it was packed. I was a bit late for the first presentation, and had to wait in the hallway; there wasn’t even anywhere to stand in the room. AndContinue reading “Official Plan Updates”
Why Not Run?
One of the things that got me thinking about one day running for public office was that, sometimes when I would speak passionately about some societal issue, someone I respect would say “hey, have you ever thought of running?” That kind of comment meant a lot to me, encouraging me to make a bigger impactContinue reading “Why Not Run?”
Polarization in Canada
“We’ve never been so divided.” I have heard that phrase more times than I can count, recently. It’s bad enough that we hear examples of polarization so often in American news, but it’s much worse that we see so many examples of it here in Canada. It seems that our political rhetoric is increasingly negative,Continue reading “Polarization in Canada”
Procedural Bylaw Review
Why does Council do things the way that we do? Our mayor leads us through an elaborate program at each meeting, governed by rules that most residents will never see. Those rules are called the Procedural Bylaw, and on Monday night we’re going to review them to see if there are any changes we’d likeContinue reading “Procedural Bylaw Review”
Breakin’ the Law
There are endless ways to make trouble, but only a few ways to enforce the law. In response to the recent addition of Automated Speed Enforcement to Brighton’s streets, and a bit of concern expressed about it, this week I’ll give a rundown of how laws are enforced in Brighton. The Ontario Provincial Police NotContinue reading “Breakin’ the Law”
Big, Complex, and Hopeful
A few weeks ago I announced the upcoming release of the Community Foundation of Campbellford, Seymour and Northumberland’s Vital Signs Report. That event is this coming Tuesday, April 9th, at 4:00pm at the King Edward Park Community Centre. I will be speaking at the release, and what follows is a sneak peek of my talk.Continue reading “Big, Complex, and Hopeful”
Come and See!
I struggled with what to call this blog post, because there’s so much on this week’s council agenda to talk about that you really just need to come see for yourself! If you’ve never been out to a council meeting before, this coming meeting (Monday, March 25 2024) is a good one to come to.Continue reading “Come and See!”
Data Driven
How do you measure the health of a community? What kinds of data do we collect and use, and why? Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be The things that we count are the things that we think about, and the things that we think about are the things that we value whenContinue reading “Data Driven”
Councillor Training & Conferences
The last few weeks there’s been some local controversy over increases in the municipal budget related to the role of councillors. The Committee of the Whole ultimately passed a pay increase for councillors that collectively amounted to ~$30k, but it was noted that the overall council budget increased by ~$60k. The rest of the increaseContinue reading “Councillor Training & Conferences”