Publications
New Publication:
Foundations of Governance: Municipal Government in Canada's Provinces
Edited by Andrew Sancton and Robert Young
Institute of Public Administration of Canada
June 2009
Municipalities are responsible for many essential services and have become vital agents for implementing provincial policies, including those dealing with the environment, emergency planning, economic development, and land use. In Foundations of Governance, experts from each of Canada's provinces come together to assess the extent to which municipal governments have the capacity to act autonomously, purposefully, and collaboratively in the intergovernmental arena.
Each chapter follows a common template in order to facilitate comparison and covers essential features such as institutional structures, municipal functions, demography, and municipal finances. Canada's municipalities function in diverse ways but have similar problems and, in this way, are illustrative of the importance of local democracy. Foundations of Governance shows that municipal governments require the legitimacy granted by a vibrant democracy in order to successfully negotiate and implement important collective choices about the futures of communities.
Spheres of Governance: Comparative Studies of Cities in Multilevel Governance Systems
June 2007
Edited by Harvey Lazar and Christian Leuprecht
Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University
McGill-Queen's University Press
This is the first collection of its kind to compare systematically the challenges faced by municipalities in the context of the growing complexity of intergovernmental relations and multilevel governance in federations. Experts contribute chapters on Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, paying particular attention to the interaction between municipal and federal governments. Each chapter analyzes the constitutional and fiscal position of municipalities, their relations with the central government, the way provincial and state governments mediate these relationships, and how policy is made (with examinations of two policy sectors per country). Tensions and pressures for change are highlighted.
At a time when local governments are rising in importance around the world, and functions are being shifted across levels of government, this comparative analysis breaks new ground in the study of multilevel governance, intergovernmental relations, and municipal government.
Canada: The State of the Federation 2004: Municipal-Federal-Provincial Relations in Canada
June 2006
Edited by Robert Young and Christian Leuprecht
Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University
McGill-Queen's University Press
Cities are rising in prominence within the Canadian federal system. While
advocates are demanding more money and power for cities, traditional
barriers to multilevel governance are weakening.
Canada: The State of the Federation, 2004 offers indispensable insights on
the role of cities in an evolving system of multilevel governance.
Contributors provide a background to the recent changes in policy and power
structures and an analysis of amalgamation and restructuring. They also
explore housing policy, the integration of immigrants, and regional
development in places as diverse as Mississauga, Saskatchewan, rural
Newfoundland, and Vancouver.