Clark Somerville: Municipal futures, unifying local government voices
Given that Clark Somerville has attended 18 Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conferences – the last 15 in a row – he could certainly be described as an authority on the state of local government across the country.
Somerville, FCM president emeritus, chatted with Municipal World CEO Susan Gardner at the organization’s 2019 conference in Quebec City. The two discussed the future of Canadian municipalities and why FCM is important in uniting the voice of local government.
Finding Common Ground on National Issues
“Local government, in my opinion, is more united in Canada than ever before,” he said. “I think we’re getting to that point where the municipal sector is working together. We’re helping each other.”
Somerville quoted Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, who is also the chair of FCM’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus, is saying communities large and small are coming together around issues such as public transit, rural economic development, access to broadband, and medical care.
He also said local governments are finding common ground on their role in communicating local news, which is even more important today due to the decline in local media.
“The news gets posted online quickly, but it might not appear in print for one or two weeks. It might not appear in print for three or four weeks. That is going to start having a big impact,” he said. “I think that’s where municipalities have really stepped in with closed captioning, web-streaming, trying to get the message out.”
Collaboration Expected from All Orders of Government
Noting the public expects value from their local governments, Somerville said the expectation is neighbouring communities will work together. Also, there is an expectation local governments will work with their provincial, territorial, and federal counterparts as well.
He also pointed out events like the FCM conference play an important role in bringing local government voices together.
“Being around for a number of years, serving on all the committees FCM has, when I walk into the room … into the conference, into the trade show, I’m energized,” Somerville said. “I had breakfast with people from British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario, and we were talking about very simple things that are connecting us. We had that conversation about how important it is to communicate with our residents and how we do it.” MW
✯ Municipal World Insider and Executive Members: You might also be interested in the article: Reconciling Canada together: Indigenous input required for Canada’s future. Note that you can now access the complete collection of past articles (and more) from your membership dashboard.
Related resource materials: