Mayor Larry O’Brien Names Taskforce on Governance
For immediate release
June 12, 2008
Mayor Larry O’Brien Names Taskforce on Governance
OTTAWA - Today Mayor Larry O’Brien released the names of the Chair and members of a Taskforce on Governance.
As part of his City Address in January, Mayor O’Brien committed to strike a Taskforce on Governance in anticipation of this fall’s mid-term governance review with Council.
The Taskforce’s mandate is to examine the current governance model at the City of Ottawa and develop recommendations based on best practices, Bill 130, and other municipal governance models.
These recommendations will concentrate on enhancing the effectiveness of the decision making process at City Hall to allow the Mayor and Council to take a more strategic approach to governing.
The main areas of focus for the Taskforce on Governance are: long-term planning and visioning for the City of Ottawa, City Council and Committees, citizen engagement, the role of Mayor and Councillors, accountability and transparency, delegation of authority and effective relationships with staff.
Dr. David Zussman, Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management, of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, has agreed to chair the taskforce.
Each Taskforce member has a proven record in the area of business and/or public policy and is conducting their work on a volunteer basis. They first met on May 22 and will report in August.
The recommendations of the Taskforce will complement the work of City staff as a lead up to the mid-term governance review. This report will be the focus of a Council summer strategic session meeting that Mayor O’Brien plans to organize in August on the topic of governance. The Taskforce report will also be tabled with Committee and Council in the fall.
“Today marks day 422 of my commitment to 1,000 days of change,” said Mayor Larry O’Brien. “I am confident the members of the Taskforce on Governance will offer valuable insights to shape the debate this fall.”
The members of the Taskforce on Governance are as follows:
Dr. David Zussman, Chair, Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
Rob Collins, Former CIO at Cognos and current Chair of Mayor’s E-Government Taskforce
Graham Fox, Strategic Policy Advisor, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP.
Dr. Katherine Graham, Dean, Faculty of Public Affairs, Carleton University
Dr. Gerald Grant, Associate Professor and Information Systems Area Coordinator, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
Pierre Richard, Q.C., ICD.D, Senior Partner Lang Michener LLP, Chair Hydro Ottawa Holdings Inc. and Hydro Ottawa Ltd.
Nick Tilgner, Co-Chair of Ottawa Rural Summit 2
Dr. Rick Van Loon, Past President and Professor Emeritus, Carleton University.
Debbie Weinstein, Co-founder and Partner, LaBarge Weinstein LLP.
Bob Plamondon, Volunteer Advisor
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June 15th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Do we really need new Governance at City Hall? You bet we do. One only needs to look at the past eight years since amalgamation to see that the current governance structure is not working. We have a city council that has become stagnant and unable to move on even the smallest of city issues, let alone on major ones.
There are many ways to bring in new governance. I hope that the Mayor’s task force does not call for more power to be given to the mayor. I would not want the new power to lead through a dictatorship, but rather through a board of directors elected by the citizens at large.
I have already mentioned many times that I think that our 23 wards should be reduced by 6 for a total of 17 wards. These six vacant seats should then be filled by candidates running for election at large. The mayor and these six officials would form the executive board at City Hall. The executive board would then chair the existing standing committees, set city policies, and also set the direction of the city. No longer would we allow city staff to lead council on important decisions that concern the city, as the Mayor and the six executive board members would do that instead.
New city governance does not need to give new powers to the Mayor, but rather give him/her the tools to push his/her vision through duly elected representatives.
Let us hope that when the new governance task force completes its job, which includes suggestions that we implement a political structure that carries the voice of the people, rather than through a single entity that does not need more power.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:18 am
[…] of our governance. A staff review of the City system or manner of government coupled with the Taskforce on Governance will provide recommendations about how to make better choices in a more business like fashion for […]
June 17th, 2008 at 8:48 am
[…] to allow the Mayor and Council to take a more strategic approach to governing. This Taskforce (for more information view press release here) has some of the brightest minds in Canada volunteering to review the status of our governance system […]
June 28th, 2008 at 10:28 am
[…] two weeks ago I announced my third Mayor’s Task Force focusing on City management and governance (click here for more information on this Task Force). They are an outstanding group of people who will provide Council and I with an independent set of […]
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
What plans does the Mayor have for the future governance of Hydro Ottawa?
The most obvious practical change since amalgamation of the municipal utilities
is the termination of formal democratic control (because residents no longer elece
the utility’s governors, formerly Hydro Commissioners). This may have been a direct cause of such Hydro Ottawa activities as buying into the ISP business (buying Trytel Ltd.) and then selling out of it at a loss. Since Ottawa residents remain both Hydro’s proprietors and its customers, and since at least some Councillors profess no interest in Hydro affairs, electors would like to know the Mayor’s intentions.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
[…] be my fourth task force and I have found those on Transit , E-Government, as well as the ongoing Taskforce on Governance to be valuable contributors to the debate on the important issues facing our […]
October 21st, 2008 at 10:19 am
Message for the Mayor:
Somebody informed me that you are in the process of reading my book,
“Decline of Muslim States and Societies: The Real root-causes..”
I would be interested to hear you views.
Regards,
Misbah Islam
March 4th, 2009 at 11:24 am
[…] June 2008 I appointed this independent Taskforce (click here to see press release)with members from the academic and business community to review the current […]