2016 CAMA E-Brief Partner:

The CAMA Board of Directors recognizes that CAMA members can play an important role in contributing to several of their Sub-Committees on various portfolios.  There are currently two Sub-Committees that are seeking additional CAMA members.
                                                       
2017 CAMA Conference Program Sub-Committee

Our Annual Conference continues to be the single most important professional development initiative we deliver and is a fantastic networking opportunity.  The Board spends a great deal of its time devoted to the programming of this event through the leadership of the Conference Program Sub-Committee which is responsible for developing the Conference theme and designing the speakers program.  This year’s Conference will be held in Gatineau, QC from May 29-31, 2017.

President Marie-Hélène Lajoie is this year’s Chair of the Committee along with Board members Jake Rudolph, Rodney Cumby, Jean-Marc Nadeau, Christy Arseneau and Jeff Renaud.  We are seeking two additional members.  The Committee work is completed through Conference Calls and by e-mail with a time commitment of approximately 3-4 hours per month for the months of August 2016 thru December 2016.

2017 CAMA Awards of Excellence Sub-Committee

CAMA’s Awards of Excellence Program encourages the improvement of the art of municipal management to recognize the specific contributions achieved by members of the Association, and to publicize these to other members as well as to the general public.

The 2017 CAMA Awards Committee is Chaired by Board member Jean-Marc Nadeau and we are seeking five additional members.  The time commitment is as follows:

If you are interested in serving on the above-noted Committees, and are a CAMA member, please contact Ms. Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director ([email protected]) to send you an application form in which the deadline is June 30th, 2016.

The Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) held their quarterly meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba on May 29th, 2016. 

The Board dealt with a number of issues, but what follows are the highlights of those discussions:

Strategic Plan

CAMA was pleased to launch our new Strategic Plan ahead to 2021.  A presentation was made by Jake Rudolph (Chair of the Committee) at the CAMA Conference in Winnipeg highlighting the plan’s strategic pillars, goals and objectives.  CAMA’s previous Strategic Plans and goals have led to such important initiatives as the CAO Performance Toolkit, the Membership Development Campaign, and a partnership with the Provincial and Territorial Associations to recruit the next generation of municipal leaders.  It’s our expectation that this new plan will also provide us with a blueprint for a stronger Association over the next five years. 

• Click here to read the full 2016-2021 CAMA Strategic Plan.
• Click here to read the Executive Summary of the 2016-2021 CAMA Strategic Plan.

Update on Communications/Marketing Plan

Communications Chair, Glen Davies updated the Board on his Committee’s recent activities of the Communications/Marketing Plan.  The Membership Campaign continues to make gains with the next phase of the project being to focus more attention on the direct reports including some LinkedIn advertisements.  Keep up the great work in being a cheerleader for CAMA to your colleagues!  Louis Coutinho will take over as the Chair for this Committee.

CAMA staff are also working on the development of a new website which is scheduled to be launched in the Fall 2016.

Recruiting the Next Generation of Leaders

One of CAMA’s goals is to ensure that we are providing new and existing municipal administrators with information and a network that assists them in their role; encourages the next generation of leaders; and, promotes the importance of the Professional Municipal Administrator.

CAMA has been working on two particular projects related to recruiting the next generation of leaders in municipal government.

• A Toolkit to Attract The Next Generation.  CAMA is pleased to have completed the first year of a two year Communications partnership with six of our Provincial/Territorial Associations:  LGMA (British Columbia), AMCTO (Ontario), OMAA (Ontario), LGAA (Alberta), ARMAA (Alberta), and AMANB (New Brunswick).  One of the goals was to increase awareness of municipal administration as a career choice for students among academia/leadership in institutions which offer Public Administration and recruiting the next generation of municipal leaders. 
 

A survey was undertaken by Insights West to gain insights into young Canadians’ current perceptions of municipal and local government careers; to measure awareness and familiarity with municipal and local governments; and, to compare and contrast perceptions of municipal and local government careers to those in federal and provincial governments.  The overall objective of this project is to develop a communications strategy that would work to encourage younger Canadians to consider careers in this field. 

A toolkit is currently being prepared that can be used to attract new employees to the local government profession as a great place to start to build a career with the main audience being the “soon to be post secondary graduates”.

Watch for the Insights West Report to be launched in the near future which will be great information for you and your Human Resources Departments when you are hiring staff for your own community.

• CAMA’s Next Generation Project.  This project was designed in recognition of the importance of providing useful career advice to the next generation of local government leaders, and to provide an opportunity for our more experienced CAMA members to give back to the profession.  It is our hope that it will help CAMA members at different stages of their career, students considering a career in local government, and potential future CAMA members.  This is also a great resource to share with direct reports and managers throughout your organization.  We want the next generation of leaders to be ready!  Watch for this document to be launched in the near future!

Annual Conferences

If you were unable to attend the 2016 Winnipeg Conference you will find the speaker presentations (that are not copyrighted) on the CAMA website and the live webcasting for every session (with the exception of the Retired CAO Panel Session and the Gary Anaka Brain Wellness Sessions) in the Member’s Section. 
 

CAMA was also pleased to partner with Public Sector Digest, a sponsor and exhibitor, who prepared a Conference review of the CAMA and FCM Conferences. 

As well, CAMA was pleased to have five individuals (three young professionals and two members from communities North of the 60th Parallel) take advantage of the Scholarship Program which provided a complimentary registration for the 2016 Conference.

The CAMA Board also discussed plans for future CAMA Conferences which include:
• 2017:  The Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Québec.  The Program Sub-Committee will start meeting throughout the summer months to develop the theme and speaker program and the room block will be made available in mid-July.
• 2018:  The Crowne Plaza/Hilton Garden Inn/Convention Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick 
• 2019:  Québec City  (with staff currently negotiating a location)

CAO Performance Management and Evaluation Committee

The CAO Performance Management and Evaluation Toolkit was launched at the 2016 CAMA Conference held in Winnipeg through a presentation made by Janice Baker, Chair of the Committee.

Where Can You Find the Toolkit?  The toolkit can be found in the Member’s Section of the CAMA website for the first year.  This will provide you with an opportunity to use the toolkit for your own annual review and provide any further feedback.  The toolkit will then be updated as part of the second cycle of the pilot project and made available as a public document in June 2017 with a formal communications plan.    Also, the French version of the toolkit will be available in the next two weeks.   It is our hope that this toolkit will assist all of us to achieve our local vision, and create stronger municipalities and communities and will shift Canadian CAO Performance Evaluation practice to a higher level of professionalism.

We look forward to receiving your feedback over the next year as you begin to use the toolkit in your own community.

ICMA

Marc Landry, CAMA External Relations Chair and Third International Vice-President of ICMA, provided an update on the activities of ICMA.  The 2016 Annual Conference of ICMA will be held in Kansas City from September 24-28, 2016 and CAMA looks forward to hosting the Canadian Dinner on Monday, September 26, 2016.

Affiliate Partnerships

CAMA is pleased to partner with its affiliate organizations from Australia (Local Government Professionals), New Zealand (Society of Local Government Managers) and the United Kingdom (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives) to present a broad range of local government issues in our respective countries.  Across the world and beyond we all share the same victories and challenges.  The Discussion Papers can be found on the CAMA website outlining each country’s reaction to the following themes:

• The relationship of local governments with senior levels of government in their respective country and the main services that their local governments deliver.
• How local governments are funded (revenue sources) in comparison to senior levels of government.
• The top three key pressures that local governments have been experiencing over the last five years and why.
• The key pressures that local governments are likely to experience in the next five to ten years and what they have done (and will do) to address these demands.

Presentations will be held this year at each affiliate’s Annual Conference.  Past President Don MacLellan represented CAMA in Australia in May and also at the CAMA Conference.  Jeff Renaud will attend the SOLGM Conference in September 2016 and Janice Baker the SOLACE Conference in October 2016.

Treasurer’s Report

Janice Baker, CAMA Treasurer, updated the Board on the Association’s finances.  CAMA continues to be in a healthy financial position.  This year there was a surplus of $37, 732 along with a member’s surplus of almost $600,000.  A detailed review of the Association’s finances was presented at our Annual General Meeting in Winnipeg.

Next Board Meetings

The dates for the Board meetings for the 2016-2017 year are as follows:
• September 14-16, 2016 in Moncton, NB
• November 23-25, 2016 in Ottawa, ON
• March 22-24, 2017 in Portage la Prairie, MB
• May 28, 20017 in Gatineau, QC

Wishing you all a great summer!

Marie-Hélène Lajoie
CAMA President
 

Municipalities may wish to promote awareness of Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart Charities, which is dedicated to removing financial barriers that prevent children across Canada from participating in quality physical activities.  One in three Canadian families cannot afford to enroll their children in organized sports. Jumpstart helps these families by providing funding for registration fees, equipment and/or transportation for over 70 different activities. In addition to enabling participation in high-profile sports like hockey, soccer and swimming, Jumpstart helps children take dance lessons and martial arts classes, play ringette, or take part in several dozen other activities.  Jumpstart supports children between the ages of four and 18. Families must meet financial need criteria in order to qualify for funding. Applications for assistance can be submitted from January 15 to November 1, and can be completed on the Jumpstart website. For additional information, please call 1-844-YES-PLAY.

The Ministry of Seniors and Housing is seeking input on a provincial affordable housing strategy and invites municipalities to help define how housing is delivered, what services and supports are needed, and what expectations should be met for affordable housing across the province.   There is a high demand for affordable housing in Alberta, with over 15,000 households currently on waitlists for affordable housing. Nearly $1.2 billion will be invested in affordable housing over the next five years, so it is important to have your say on future directions for Alberta’s affordable housing system.  Municipalities can respond to an online survey by July 3.  For more information, please visit the Affordable Housing Strategy Engagement webpage.   
 

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CAMA e-Brief is published every two weeks. Watch for the next issue on: The week of July 11th, 2016  To view the last CAMA e-Brief, visit: http://www.camacam.ca/en/ebrief.asp	Job Scene is distributed every week. The Next issue will appear on: Monday, July 4th, 2016 To view the latest Jobs go to: http://www.camacam.ca/en/jobpostings.asp
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