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Description:
The Local Government Bulletin No. 26, April 2002

The purpose of this bulletin is to focus debate on the need to increase the powers and authorities of local government in Canada and to ensure local communities achieve more autonomy. The new Local Government website is http://www.localgovernment.ca . It contains a library of useful documents and an archive of past bulletins. This site replaces www.localselfgovt.org .

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In this issue:
1. A new look for the Local Government Bulletin
2. Preparing for possible federal action
3. The Toronto Dominion Bank’s proposed agenda for cities
4. More global intervention in local affairs
5. Subscribe to the bulletin
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1. A new look for the Local Government Bulletin

We are pleased to introduce a new look and a new name for our Local Government website and bulletin. We began this exercise in November 1999 with the name “Local Self-Government” but we’ve been fortunate in securing the site name “localgovernment.ca” with is somewhat clearer and more direct. All of bulletins and material from the library are now in this new site.

The new site also has more interesting graphics and colour, some of which can be seen in this newsletter. We have attempted to ensure that the design and colour elements are simple enough that they do not impose impediments for those with older programs or computers. We will continue to provide, at no charge, an electronic bulletin to those who are interested in receiving it, and to provide an easy-to-access electronic library that contains useful information regarding the empowerment of local governments.

Some will be receiving this bulletin for the first time - we have added about 300 new names to the mailing list to include a number of communities in Canada overlooked in our previous list, as well as changes because of elections, appointments, etc. The current mailing list consists of about 1500 addresses of local government officials and others throughout the country.

If you are receiving this bulletin directly from us (that is, it is not being forwarded to you by someone else) then your name is in our data bank and you do not have to subscribe to continue receiving it. If you wish to have your name taken off the list, write to me at j.sewell@on.aibn.com and indicate you wish to be unsubscribe.

Does this spiffy new website mean that a new day is breaking for local government empowerment? We hope so.

2. Preparing for possible federal action.

The Task Force chaired by Member of Parliament Judy Sgro is due to release its interim report before the end of the month.

Established on May 9, 2001 after being announced in January of that year, the Task Force on Urban Issues has held a number of meetings throughout the country since that time. The final report is due out in December.

Preliminary information is that this will be a long document filled with facts of various kinds, proposing ideas about where the federal government should be heading with cities. The terms of reference and the Task Force members may be found in Bulletin No. 15, (May 2001) in the Bulletin section of the website. Expect few surprises: Sgro did not undertake any original research, and the Task Force was not empowered to deal directly with issues of empowerment or financial status. Nevertheless, this may be another opportunity for the federal government to focus on a serious urban agenda.

3. The Toronto Dominion Bank’s proposed agenda for cities

A report by economists at the Toronto Dominion Bank, provocatively entitled `A Choice between investing in Canada’s cities or disinvesting in Canada’s future’ may prove a good harbinger for the Sgro report. Bulletin No. 24 reported on the speech by TD’s CEO Charles Baillie in February in which he stated this study was underway.

The report begins by noting that Canada’s largest cities are responsible for about half the Gross Domestic Product in their respective provinces, then argues the benefits of free trade agreements to cities and their work forces over the past decade. It compares larger Canadian cities with other cities in the world, generally concluding the competitiveness of Canadian cities although lamenting the stagnation of Canadian personal income levels in the 1990s.

The report notes the erosion of city infrastructure, the worrisome cut-backs in post secondary education, provincial downloading, and the limited revenue sources available cities from property taxes. It argues for more authorities to cities and new funding arrangements – in fact various funding proposals are reviewed in considerable depth – and suggests more federal support in terms of immigration and settlement policies and the social safety net.

A summary of the report can be accessed at http://www.td.com, Go to the tab on the left margin headed `Press releases’, and go to April 22. The full report is found at the tab `TD Economics’, and go to the Reports section.

4. More worries about global intervention in local government

Recent Bulletins have outlined concerns about international trade organizations impinging upon the powers of local government by attempting to override land use controls and bylaws controlling hours of operation of commercial activities. There is no certainty that these challenges to local governance will be embodied in the General Agreement on Trade and Services, but the fact they keep getting mentioned is cause for concern.

Thus it is disquieting to learn of the recent attempt by the European Union to require that Canada increase the opportunities for international investment in water, sewage and waste systems. In Canada these systems are invariably controlled by municipalities so again one finds municipalities at risk because of negotiations on international trade.

The most recent story was broken in The Guardian newspaper on April 17. The story begins “The European Union is demanding full scale privatization of public utilities across the world as its price for dismantling the common agricultural policy in the new round of global trade talks, secret documents leaked to the Guardian revealed yesterday.” The document issued by the European Union relating to Canada can be found at http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2002/04/16/canada.pdf

This document begins with these rather discouraging words: “Member states are required to ensure that this text is not made publicly available and is only circulated to officials concerned.”

It then outlines the request made to Canada affecting a wide range of services including postal services, telecommunications, construction and engineering, environmental services, energy services. It outlines the precise legislative changes it wishes to see made in each province – few of us realized how carefully international lawyers are studying provincial legislation in Canada. The Guardian reports that the demands by the ECC are in response to requests that it open up its agricultural sector to increased trade pressures.

The document requires a lifting of restrictions on professional activities, including planning, and specifically, in a section headed “Environmental Services” which commences on page 19. That section requires that Canada open up opportunities for international investments in water and waste water management. In another section beginning on page 37, the same request is made of energy, including energy supply and the physical networks for energy distribution.

Canada is not alone on being targeted by the European Union. Virtually every other developed country is subject to similar lists of desired changes. The document gives a very chilling portrait of how powers generally assumed to be local in nature are now suggested being removed from local jurisdiction and placed in the hands of privately controlled global organizations.

It appears increasingly as though local governments in Canada need some very strong organization willing to engage in enlisting support from other local government organizations throughout the world to remove these threats to local government empowerment from the global negotiating table. The issue of international trade and local powers has been addressed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, but it appears to require an even stronger political presence to counter these very strong international forces. Given the current attention paid Canadian cities by provincial and federal governments – see the TD report noted above – it’s fair to say these battles will not be waged on behalf of municipalities by senior levels of government. And the attention is needed sooner rather than later.
5. Subscribe to this bulletin
The bulletin is sent, at no cost, to about 1500 individuals involved directly or indirectly in local government in Canada. The next bulletin will be available in May. Those who receive this Bulletin directly (not forwarded by a third party) are already part of the subscription list. Others who wish to subscribe should go to the web site http://www.localgovernment.ca and following the instructions. To unsubscribe, please send a message to info@localgovernment.ca indicating your wish to unsubscribe.

More information about the sponsors of the bulletin, a library of relevant and useful documents, and an archive of past bulletins, can be found on our web site. We appreciate your comments, your feedback (to j.sewell@on.aibn.com ), and items of interest that you wish to share with us and others who visit the web site.

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