With less money and a rising demand for services, the world faces a multitude of challenges, opportunities, pressures and risks - all of which require a new way of doing things.
City Manager Jim Toye, recently attended the 2011 Annual SOLACE Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland along with 245 other municipal government officials from around the world. Toye attended as president of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA).
"There are a lot of communities in other parts of the world in dire straits," said Toye. "In North Battleford and in Canada, we are in a relatively healthy economy. In some jurisdictions across the UK, for example, there are governments asking suppliers to lower their prices with the ultimatum being no business at all."
The summit was described by Toye as "eye opening."
"I took away information that will be useful to Canadian municipalities - information we can use to ensure we don't find ourselves in desperate situations and how, as 'grassroots' governments, we must be open to changing with the times, incorporate innovation and maintain the ability to drive our own economies."
CAMA is a national, non-profit association with a membership of approximately 500 city managers, chief administrative officers and senior appointed officials from all parts of Canada.
For more on SOLACE visit www.solace.org.uk.
