From A to B to C in Municipal Governance

What’s considered an important policy issue may look like a straightforward question but can become complicated when accounting for the various municipalities across Canada. This is attributed by the idea that certain characteristics of cities would determine which policy issues are considered important. For example, the relatively small population size of rural Nova Scotia may not consider some issues as important compared to the urban areas of Toronto.

This discussion seems to touch upon the intuitive questions about municipal governance. In other words, when asked what role municipal governments play, one might immediately think of which services and policy issues is under municipal responsibility.

However, questions are rarely asked about those that are seemingly integral to municipal governance: the perceived importance of the ABCs: agencies, boards, and commissions.

These local special-purpose bodies operate locally, contain specific functions, and possess fiscal powers to an extent. Those in favor of ABCs point to its role in providing essential services, such as policing, that can be separated from local politics because for efficiency purposes. However, those against ABCs say otherwise where they produce important decisions without proper local oversight and accountability. Under this perspective, it is more efficient to empower a general-purpose government to make decisions for the city instead of trickling responsibility down to specific bodies.

In any case, these two perspectives raise an important question whether the perceived importance of ABCs accurately reflect their actual importance? And if there is a mismatch, what implications can be made about the ABCs role in municipal governance?