A Public Corporation?! What Motivates Public Servants at the Municipal Level?
Lesson #9: A municipality is a public corporation, not a constitutionally recognized order of government. (Professor Eidelman, Lecture Slides, September 23, 2022)
It might be quite natural to categorize municipalities as an order of government along with provinces and the federal government. At the end of the day, who would’ve thought that Canadian municipalities, despite from having elected officials (regardless of “no party” affiliations) would be public corporations?
Municipalities are only briefly mentioned in the Constitution Act, 1867 to outline they are the “responsibility” of provinces. According to s.92(8), “In each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to … Municipal Institutions in the Province.”
Previously, I never had the opportunity to study municipal governments or how they function. During my undergraduate degree, I studied international relations, focusing on topics that fall under federal or provincial jurisdiction. Last summer, while I worked for the federal government I got limited exposure to how the three levels of government interact (mostly on knowledge building). Due to my interests and educational background, I didn’t really see myself working at the municipal level, so I was curious to learn about what motivated Munk alumni to work at the Toronto City Hall. Unsurprisingly, their answers were pretty similar: having an impact on the daily lives of Torontonians.
During last lecture, we discussed that municipalities operate as service providers; they supply the services that we use on a daily basis — sometimes without even thinking — such as water, electricity, transportation, healthcare, parks, libraries and police services. It is really the work at the municipal level that impacts so many aspects of our lives.
Even though working for the municipal government is meaningful as it relates to improving communities, there are challenges and restrictions to how much the municipal government can really do, which is tied to their operations as public corporations. While residents are in search of better services, local governments don’t necessarily control their delivery and funding. I am interested to learn how those who work for municipal governments perceive legal, fiscal and political constraints and how these restrictions affect their work or overall community impact.
