e-Brief August 28, 2019
Congratulations Janice Baker -- Awarded the 2019 IPAC Vanier Medal
IPAC Annual Conference the President-elect, Gilles Levasseur, announced that the 2019 IPAC Vanier Medal will be awarded to Janice M. Baker, City Manager for the City of Mississauga, for her invaluable contributions to public service in Canada.   Her nominator, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, noted "Janice is one of the most deserving people for this prestigious award. For 15 years she has provided steady and progressive leadership for the City of Mississauga through challenging times. Through her leadership, our City has grown into an economic powerhouse and a sought-after destination for people and business to locate. Her commitment to public service and professionalism are without equal, and as a result, she has the respect of everyone who works for her. Janice exemplifies what it means to be a public servant and her legacy will be felt throughout this corporation for many years to come. We are lucky to have her as City Manager and our City is better as a result of her tireless work."

Ms. Baker joined the City of Mississauga in May 1999 as Commissioner of Corporate Services and Treasurer and has served as Mississauga's City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer since 2005. Mississauga has grown to be Canada's sixth largest municipality, with over 770,000 residents and 90,000 businesses.  She has extensive experience from both the private and public sector. After graduating from Memorial University, she became a Chartered Accountant and worked in private sector finance, before taking on her first public service role with the City of St. John's where she was City Treasurer and Director of Finance. Just prior to joining the City of Mississauga over twenty years ago, she was the Commissioner of Corporate Services and Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Oshawa, Ontario.

Ms. Baker clearly believes in the value of public service and has demonstrated this by serving on a number of Boards. She is currently a board member of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, the Mississauga Living Arts Centre, and the Healthy Cities Stewardship Centre. She has also been a member of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA), the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO), the Ontario Municipal Administrators' Association, the Trillium Health Centre, the Municipal Finance Officers' Association (MFOA) and the Canadian Urban Institute, among many others. She served one-year terms as President of CAMA and as Chair of MFOA.

The outstanding public service contributions of Ms. Baker have already been recognized through a number of distinguished awards. She was elected to the designation of Fellow from the ICAO in 2011, an exceptional honour and the highest designation the Institute confers. The Women's Executive Network (WXN) inducted her into their Hall of Fame for Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2010, having already bestowed annual Top 100 Award honours to her three times in the previous years. She also received the Excellence in Municipal Finance Award from the MFOA.

Janice has been instrumental in providing high quality public services to the residents of the municipalities she has served, and has ensured that this was done with a keen eye on value for money while promoting a climate of trust with the public and within her teams. As City Manager and CAO, she led the creation of Mississauga's Strategic Plan, setting a 40-year vision for the City. Under her leadership, the City has received the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for twenty consecutive years. She has also demonstrated her commitment to sound public service by being a strong proponent for career development and succession planning, developing and training staff so that they are prepared to adapt to changing circumstances and to take on greater responsibilities. She has also directed the effective operation of the City's administration, building strong relationships with the Mayor, Council, City staff and the public.
Congratulations Marie-Hélène Lajoie - 2019 Order of Merit from the University of Ottawa

Congratulations to the City Manager of the City of Gatineau and CAMA Past President, Marie-Hélène Lajoie, recipient of the 2019 Order of Merit awarded by the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa-L'université D'ottawa | Droit Civil Uottawa.  This recognition is awarded every year to graduates of the civil law section who are real leaders in their sectors and contribute in part to the reach of the section.   Ms. Lajoie and the other recipients will be honoured at a ceremony held on September 4, 2019.
CAMA CAO Employment Contract Committee
The CAMA Board had a tremendous amount of interest from the membership to serve on the CAO Employment Contract Toolkit Committee.  We aim to have a balanced approach to regional and gender participation on our Committees.  Particularly with respect to regional balance, we believe it is important that our discussions benefit from input from all of our regions and size of members` municipalities.   Congratulations to the following Committee members:
  • Jake Rudolph, Chair, CAMA First Vice-President/Board Representative for British Columbia, CAO – City of Nanaimo, BC
  • Jeff Renaud, CAMA President/Member-At-Large, CAO – Town of St. Stephen, NB
  • Dawn Chaplin, CAMA Board Representative for Newfoundland & Labrador, CAO – Town of Torbay, NL
  • Rod Sage, CAMA Board Representative for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, CAO/City Manager – City of Brandon, MB
  • Marc Landry, CAMA Past President, City Manager – City of Moncton, NB
  • Andy Brown, CAMA Member -  CAO, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, ON
  • Phyllis Carlyle, CAMA Member - CAO, Regional District of Nanaimo, BC
  • David Stewart, CAMA Member - Treasurer/Deputy CAO, Municipality of Hastings Highlands, ON
This Committee will be working with Transitional Solutions Inc (consultant) to prepare a CAO Employment Contract Toolkit that will support the CAO when negotiating their contract with the elected officials. This toolkit will also take into consideration the work that has already been completed on CAMA’s Performance Evaluation Toolkit, the CAO Members in Transition Toolkit, and the Political Acumen Toolkit.  The target audience for this toolkit is related to the Chief Administrative Officer position (or senior administrator positions) which would include existing CAO’s with past experience in the role or potential future CAO’s with no experience as a CAO.   It is also important to note that this document will be for all population categories and include the components required based on the size of the municipality.  We expect the work to be completed with the launch of the toolkit at the 2020 CAMA Conference in Deerhurst.
Canadian Dinner at the 2019 ICMA Conference - Nashville
CAMA members who are attending the upcoming ICMA Conference being held in Nashville from October 20-23, 2019 are invited to the Canadian Dinner which will be held on Monday, October 21st, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.  Once the location has been confirmed we will be sending details directly to those of you that are registered for the Conference.  We look forward to seeing you there!
Alberta Members
Did you know there are grants for recycling infrastructure?
The Community Champions Program (CCP) is a grant program that is specially designed for non-profit organizations and municipalities in Alberta. The program provides funding for specialized recycling bins (indoor and outdoor) and ensuring more accessible and convenient out-of-home opportunities for recycling.  The funding is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis until all the funds have been distributed or until November 30, 2019, whichever occurs first. You can submit more than one application during the year, but your combined applications can’t exceed a total value of $20,000 excluding GST. This program helps to keep beverage containers out of landfills and provides essential financial and social benefits for communities.  For more information, please see the CCP website.
Navigating Digital Transformation in Government
Skills development and a digital-first mindset are key components of meaningful change in today’s world. Find out why and explore the latest opportunities for CPAs in the public sector who are ready to embrace innovation and learn more about CPA Canada’s Public Sector Conference this year in Ottawa.
CAO of Town of Newmarket will join the City Managers’ Panel at the Intelligent Cities Summit
 
The City Managers’ Panel is one you do not want to miss – moderated by CAMA Director and CAO of Township of West Lincoln, Beverly Hendry – at the 4th Annual Intelligent Cities Summit taking place on Oct. 7-8 in Toronto.  Jag Sharma, CAO of the Town of Newmarket has just joined the panel along with Janice Baker, CAO of City of Mississauga.  Will you be there?  Download the conference brochure for speaker overview and the agenda.  Get 10% off registration with code: CAMA     Conference website & registration: Intelligent Cities Summit

 Submissions for the 2019
CAMA Awards of Excellence Program

The Annual Awards Program has been designed to encourage excellence in the art of professional municipal administration.  The Program Excellence Awards recognize the achievements of local governments and their chief administrators in the development and implementation of successful programs, projects or services.  We are pleased to present the 2019 Submissions.  If you are interested in obtaining more information on the submission, CAO contact details can be found in the Member's Section.
TeachingCity Oshawa:  In June 2017, the City of Oshawa entered into a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding with its education and research partners, the Canadian Urban Institute, Durham College, Trent University Durham Greater Toronto Area, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. Together, the partners address Oshawa’s urban issues through innovation, collaboration, applied research and shared experiential learning opportunities with the aim to position Oshawa as a local, national and global community of urban research and learning.  TeachingCity Oshawa focuses on: developing practical, scalable and sustainable solutions to urban issues; building research partnerships; coordinating experiential learning opportunities, applied research and innovative educational activities; developing new technologies; and sharing access to facilities, resources and equipment. Initiatives span a wide range, from visual arts and environmental programs to unique curriculum programs and hackathons, but they all support one goal: developing Oshawa as a “living laboratory,” dedicated to experiential learning, applied research and innovative teaching partnerships to address urban issues.
CAO: Jag Sharma, City of Oshawa, ON
 
Pick your Path to Kelowna 2040:   Minimizing jargon, making abstract planning more approachable and reaching more residents are challenges all municipalities face. Through a unique and immersive “Pick your Path to 2040” public engagement approach, the City of Kelowna drew out higher than average in-person participation and created a deeper understanding of the complexities of long range planning. The approach was modelled after a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style story and designed to garner feedback to update the Official Community Plan, a legislated document that guides decisions related to the delivery of housing, transportation services, infrastructure and amenities. The Pick your Path to 2040 experiential exhibits were created to help residents relate long-term community growth to their everyday experience of living in Kelowna. This was achieved through a series of questions based on values which led participants to a future scenario for accommodating population growth. The exhibits were supplemented by an online storybook for those unable to attend in person. This interactive engagement concept delivered valuable results for Kelowna and can be applied to other initiatives and replicated in other communities to encourage greater community participation.
CAO: Doug Gilchrist, City of Kelowna, BC

 
EcoVision 2025:  In the summer of 2017, concerns about water quality at Parlee Beach Provincial Park and adjacent areas increased public awareness of environmental health in the Shediac, Cap-Pelé and The Beaubassin-Est Rural Community The three municipalities, the Greater Shediac and Cap-Pelé / Beaubassin-East Chambers of Commerce, Downtown Shediac Downtown Inc. and the Great Shediac Sewerage Commission have embarked in the development of a regional green strategy named EcoVision 2025. The partners worked with the Shediac Bay Watershed Association and Vision H2O (Cap-Pelé Watershed Group and the Beaubassin-est Rural Community) to develop this strategy and the Aster Group, an environmental services cooperative, was hired to facilitate the process, and in June 2018 ional came into being.
CAO: Yves Leger, Communauté Rurale Beaubassin-est, NB

 
Enironmental Leadership:  The City of Fredericton has long had a focus on environmental issues with support from the CAO’s office. In 2000, the City launched its first energy reduction program and joined Partners for Climate Protection to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Green Matters, the City's first environmental program, was launched in 2007 with a focus on mitigating corporate and community GHG emissions through policies and public outreach. The program resulted in major reductions and an award from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.  When the program achieved its targets the focus shifted to broader community environmental issues through the Sustainability by Design program. Residents were encouraged to think about their lifestyle choices while programs were launched to recognize businesses and organizations for their efforts. At the City, operational and policy changes continued to support positive change.  Over the past several years, the City has continued to make strides in climate change mitigation and adaptation through operational and policy decisions. In 2018 a new public-facing campaign, Environmental Leadership, was launched to encourage residents to do their part for the environment with a focus on school outreach.
CAO: Chris MacPherson, City of Fredericton, NB
 
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