Welcome to the first edition of “PERSPECTIVES”.
This is a new e-magazine intended for the thousands of local government elected politicians and administrative officials who together make up the largest and most important sector of government in Canada.
We say ‘most important’ deliberately. That is not to denigrate our federal, provincial, territorial, regional or First Nations colleagues, but rather it is a realization that for most people and most businesses most of the time, local government is the most important order of government.
It is what impacts and affects their lives, families, business and career, work, play, socialization, connectivity and so many other parts of their daily family, business and personal lives. Municipalities large and small make up this critical sector of the governance of Canadians—yet for far too long and far too often, local government has been the stuck-in-the-cob-webby-corner step-child of provinces in particular, but generally of all government levels.
This new e-mag is proudly and loudly supportive of the 4,000+ local governments across this country, and the tens of thousands of women and men who work so hard to keep their communities running smoothly and safely every day. From the smallest hamlet to the largest city, what you do is critical to shaping the lives, opportunities, safety, comfort, security, happiness, family enjoyment and so much more of your residents.
Now...a couple of things you should know about this publication. First, it comes to you free of charge under the Municipal Information Network banner. Gordon McCormick and his team have been producing a daily compendium of interesting and important local government information for more than two decades. Today Jaguar Media owns and operates 4 specialized news portals and sends more than 50,000 electronic newsletters on a daily basis. The company has over 2500 customers around the world.
“PERSPECTIVES” will be published bi-monthly. I will serve as Editor. I’m Gord Hume, a four-time elected member of London city council, author of 7 books on local government, a sought-after public speaker on municipal issues, and a passionate supporter of strong and effective municipal councils and administrations. I started my media career fifty years ago as a very young reporter, and have run radio stations and been Publisher of a newspaper.
Together we will seek out information and opinions about critical local government issues that will or are affecting your local community. Sometimes our writers may be controversial—that is a good thing, because it is important to stretch your thinking about problems and how to solve them, and opportunities and how to exploit them.
Unlike at some other publications, our writers will be compensated. Modestly, but still...Gordon and I believe that intellectual property is important to support and protect, and that authors should be fairly compensated for their original work. That means you won’t see self-serving ‘puff pieces’ from PR flacks or companies. You will see some in-depth position papers and so on that will help to give you background, context and information about urgent civic topics.
Most of our bi-monthly publications will have a theme or emphasis on some pertinent and timely topic. Our first edition deals with one of the biggest issues facing municipalities right this moment—the imminent introduction of Marijuana legislation in Canada.
This will have a huge impact on local governments. Former St Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse has done extensive research on this really critical new responsibility for local governments, and his story is our lead article. We’ve also included some important background from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to give you a bench-mark on the issues facing your local police force, and other stories.
As will happen with all of our publications, I’ll end the magazine with “CIVIC COMMENT”—my own editorial on what’s happening with local government. That will be my personal opinion, not necessarily that of Jaguar Media (the publisher).
We will always welcome your comments, criticsms, ideas and suggestions. We will also welcome a proposed story or article from you on what’s going on in your community and how that could impact other towns or cities. Please feel free to step forward and send us your comments or stories. Our email address is PERSPECTIVES@municipalinfonet.com.
That’s it. Welcome to our first edition of “PERSPECTIVES”. We hope you enjoy it and will find it useful.
GORD + GORDON
