HOTEL ROOM BLOCK FOR 2023 CAMA CONFERENCE

RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 at 12:00 NOON EST


The hotel room block for the May 29-31, 2023 CAMA Conference at the Deerhurst Resort will be open on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 12:00 Noon EST.  Watch for details on the CAMA website and an e-mail in your inbox the week of September 5, 2022. 

CAMA’S FALL 2022 VIRTUAL NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES – NEW MASTERMINDS FORUM

 

CAMA is pleased to offer two virtual networking opportunities this Fall 2022.

 

CAMA Connects

CAMA Connects is a one-hour facilitated informal social networking event to still make those “face to face” connections and discuss a pressing municipal issue.  This session will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST and the topic will be "Managing a Hybrid Workforce."


NEW: CAMA Masterminds Networking Forum

CAMA is excited to pilot a new program called “Masterminds”, a networking forum with a small group of your colleagues (12-15 people) to provide you with a safe, confidential space to explore sensitive issues and challenging operational programs.  This is meant to provide you with some candid pragmatic advice on how to manage complex problems that you may have already experienced or that you may encounter in the future.  Since this is a pilot project, we will be seeking the first group’s observations following the completion of the Forums to evaluate its success.

 

How Does Masterminds Work?

-The Masterminds will consist of one moderated session per month for 1.5 hours for a period of four months (October 2022 to January 2023). The day and time of the month will be chosen following the confirmation of the attendees.

-The maximum group size will be fifteen CAMA members.

-The topic for the first session in October 2022 will be “Dealing with Difficult Employees”.  At the first meeting, the group will set the topics for the following three sessions.  


Watch for more details in your inbox the week of September 5, 2022 on how to register for the above-noted opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY FOR CAMA MEMBERS: LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXCHANGE TO TOKYO AND TAKAOKA CITY WITH CLAIR

 

The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) is a Japanese governmental agency to support the international activities of local governments to strengthen international collaboration, particularly around local development and revitalization. It also aims to provide support to local governments in promoting tourism and regional products. Its headquarters are in Tokyo and there are domestic branch offices in each prefecture in Japan, as well as a network of overseas offices in major cities around the world.

 

CAMA was pleased to have member Geoff McKnight, CAO for the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, ON participate in the Fellowship Exchange Program/Seminar in 2019 and it will be offered again this year.  The goal of this program is to build networks and promote mutual understanding between the local governments in Japan and overseas.  This seminar will be held in Tokyo and Takaoka City from October 24 to November 2, 2022 and includes visits to Tokyo and Takaoka City.  This year’s theme is “Sustainable Urban Renewal Through Exchange with Making Use of the Attractivity of Takaoka”.  CLAIR will be accepting one CAMA member to participate in this program. 

 

You are responsible for your round-trip airfare to Japan and any expenses incurred prior to arrival in Japan (including visa application fee) and after departing from Japan (along with any personal expenses incurred in Japan).  CLAIR will cover the expenses incurred during the Seminar period in Japan including transportation (within Japan), accommodations, meals, seminar materials, admissions, and overseas travel insurance.

 

Click here to see some comments from some of the participants from the 2019 program.  You can also learn more about Takaoka City here.


If you are interested in this exchange, please contact Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director at admin@camacam.ca for an application form, a flight information form and a tentative schedule of events.  The deadline for applications is Friday, September 2, 2022.

CAMA is pleased to be the Knowledge Partner for the 2022 Intelligent Cities Summit taking place in Toronto, Ontario from November 9-10, 2022.  Intelligent Cities Summit is in its sixth year and attracts senior speakers from across the country and internationally. This year they have confirmed speakers from 19 Canadian Cities, 11 regional municipalities, and 20 international cities from across Asia, Europe and USA.

 

IoT is a CAMA Business Partner and recognizes the importance of the role of the senior municipal manager in large, medium, and small size communities.  CAMA was approached because of our large network of professional members who can showcase their best practices and experiences from across the country at this prestigious conference. 


Intelligent Cities Summit:  The only event of its kind which brings together leaders from cities across the globe - both big and small. Through thought-provoking keynote presentations, panel discussions and case studies, the summit is a one-stop destination for finding answers to all the aspects related to building better cities across the world.

 

Making Intelligent, Livable Cities in a Post Pandemic World

Building Future-Ready, Intelligent Infrastructure

What Does it Take to Manage a Thriving and Tech-Forward County?

Does Size Matter? How Prepared are Small Cities?

How to Build Cyber Secure Cities?

Physical safety and Security of the cities 

Governance Beyond Cities

Meet the Municipalities

How to Make Cities Intelligent?

Rethinking Resilience

Making Citizen-Centric Data Strategies

Data-Driven City Management

Privacy by Design

The Future of Cities

Building a Modern Downtown?

 

The Conference Manager has offered one night hotel accommodation, economy class airfare and a complimentary conference registration to those municipal leaders willing to join the faculty of speakers in the Conference.  If you or someone in your organization would like to participate please contact Hifazat “Faz” Ahmad, President, Intelligent Cities Summit at faz@iotevents.ca (preferable) or Office: +1 (416) 597–5751.

 

We look forward to seeing some of you, our members, featuring your best practices from across the country at this event.

MORE AFFORDABLE INFRASTRUCTURE: TAX-FREE MUNICIPAL BONDS


A new paper penned by Senior Advisor Michael Fenn explores a measure that could potentially help Canadian municipalities fund critical infrastructure projects amid rising interest rates.


The impact of rising interest rates, and in turn higher borrowing costs, on municipal debentures could lead to fewer infrastructure projects, less state-of-good-repair investment, and a bigger slice of property tax dollars going to debt-service costs.


This paper explores the way that a financing mechanism in widespread use across the United States could be employed to bring down the borrowing and refinancing costs facing Canadian municipalities.  Tax-exempt municipal bonds – what the bond market calls ‘munis’ – allow American cities and their agencies to reduce their cost-of-capital, while encouraging investment in local and regional infrastructure projects.


As inflation and supply-chain issues drive up the cost of construction projects, is it time for Canada to re-examine tax-free municipal bonds?


Download the full paper here. 

WELCOME NEW CAMA MEMBERS


Bernie Morton, Vice-President, Crestview Strategy, Inc.

Jacqueline Davison, Deputy City Manager - Enterprise Supports, City of London, ON

Janette Loveys, Chief Administrative Officer / Secretary-Treasurer, Otonabee Region Conservation Authority, Peterborough, ON

Terese Finegan, Director of Economic & Tourism, District of Tumbler Ridge, BC

Evan Parliament, Chief Administrative Officer, City of Revelstoke, BC

2022 CAMA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE NOMINATIONS

CITY OF VAUGHAN & CITY OF MARKHAM

Willis Award for Innovation Nomination

Population Over 100,000

Creating a Culture of Innovation Through LEAN


Since 2017, Public Works has been on a journey to foster a culture of continuous improvement through staff engagement. Staff engagement is a measure of an employee’s emotional and intellectual commitment to an organization and can be characterized by the discretionary effort put into the organization to help it succeed and excel. It started with a pursuit to actively involve staff on improvement ideas to operational performance and/or service delivery.


The introduction of the Vaughan Inventors (akin to CBC’s Dragons’ Den) invited staff to participate in a fun competition-styled event, to bring forward any idea for improvement, within an investment limit of $10,000. Since the inaugural Vaughan Inventors in 2017, there have been four events, and have grown from one department within Public Works, to an event in 2019 that involved the entire organization. In 2019, the City of Vaughan was recognized with CAMA Professional Development Award for the progression of this very program.


The Vaughan Inventors program represented the beginning of the continuous improvement journey, that has since taken on a form that embeds the idea of incremental improvements into the day-to-day.


To view the entire awards submission visit the CAMA Member's Section/Awards of Excellence Best Practices (Search for "Vaughan").



Willis Award for Innovation Nomination

Population Over 100,000

Markham's Digital Transformation of Road Maintenance Operations - AI ROVER Pothole Detection


The City of Markham, in partnership with technology provider Visual Defence, has innovated its road maintenance program by being one of the first municipalities in Canada to proactively look for road deficiencies using an artificial intelligence solution.  The ROVER AI solution uses a smart phone camera to automate road inspection and record the data in a cloud.


The pilot was initiated as part of the City of Markham’s Digital Strategy, and once proven effective, was quickly deployed across five vehicles that patrol the city’s 2,200 kms of roads. The technology allows the city to automatically identify, prioritize and track deficiencies across its road network.  It also digitizes the city’s processes and supports keeping the roads safe in accordance to provincial regulations.  As a result of the implementation, the City of Markham has increased the number of deficiencies recorded per vehicle by 400%, improved productivity of patrol vehicles valued at $36,400 per vehicle, improved the efficiency of its patching program by 75%, and reduced damage claims by 18%. Markham has shared its success with other municipalities, supporting the rapid adoption of AI technologies across Canada.


To view the entire awards submission visit the CAMA Member's Section/Awards of Excellence Best Practices (Search for "AI ROVER").


Platinum Partner Horizontal Button Canoe Procurement Bilingual.jpg
Canoe Benefits Horizontal Logo WHite Background.jpg

Canadian Association Municipal Administrators

PO Box 128, Station A

Fredericton, NB E3B 4Y2 CANADA

1-866-771-2262

Contact Us
Facebook  Twitter  LinkedIn  YouTube