Feature Stories - Municipal World

Internet voting

In 2000, I participated in a panel created in response to a request from U.S. President Bill Clinton to examine internet voting. My initial reaction ...

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Building a connected city

Local government is in the business of making connections. Whether it is connecting commuters to workplaces, older adults to recreation centres, students to campuses, or ...

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The public library: Where culture comes to you

In any community, cultural vitality relies on a web of collaborative relationships between a number of organizations and individuals. Local culture thrives when art galleries, ...

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Our aging, shifting population

Every day, all over Canada, decisions are made that will ultimately shape our cities. These decisions dictate how and where cities will grow and shrink. ...

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Cultural regeneration

The case for cultural regeneration in European capital cities has been made for at least two decades in Europe. More recently, however, second-tier cities have ...

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Expropriating contaminated land

When a municipality expropriates contaminated land, can it deduct the full cost of remediating the contamination from the amount paid to the reluctant seller? Surprisingly, ...

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Micromanagers deliver micro-results

It continues to surprise me how many people end up in leadership positions while they lack the necessary people skills. They rise through the ranks ...

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Building a culture of prevention

In today’s organizations, strong leaders recognize that solid health and safety performance drives business results. They realize the importance of promoting a culture of health ...

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For electric utilities, energy is the holy grail

The billion-dollar question is, how can we cheaply and reliably store energy for the grid? The picture is clear: coal-powered electrical utilities and the oil-powered ...

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It takes two to tango (part 1)

The above aged expression refers to the fact, as Pearl Bailey sang in 1952, that a relationship – like a marriage or like the tango ...

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Problems! Glorious problems!

C. K. Chesterton penned a quote that I’m especially fond of: “It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the ...

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Shifting communities

When the Kenyan priest arrived to take up residence at the local Catholic Church in Yellowknife Northwest Territories, he expressed some concern over his safety ...

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