Welcome back to The Political Trenches: Local Government at Work. I'm glad you've joined us because today we're doing something a little different. Over the past six and a half months, local governments across Canada have been dealing with no shortage of challenges—from housing and infrastructure to public safety, governance, budgets, and the changing relationship between municipalities, provinces, and the communities they serve. Rather than choosing this episode's topics our

Welcome to The Political Trenches Local Government At Work. Gordon McIntosh has 40 years of experience in local government management, education, and consultancy roles, providing governance, strategic, and leadership services across Canada and internationally He has delivered over 1,300 workshops to approximately 140,000 participants on a wide range of topics, including cost containment and revenue options, council–staff relations, personal and interpersonal leadership, respe

Welcome back to another edition of The Political Trenches: Local Government at Work. After a longer-than-expected break, we’re back with two episodes before we head into our summer hiatus in July. Today, we’re bringing you three stories making headlines across Canada. First, we head to Newfoundland and Labrador, where a man with a prior breaking-and-entering conviction ran for council earlier this year. Then we move to British Columbia, where a brand-new municipality is geari

Welcome to The Political Trenches Local Government At Work. Fred Behrens is the President of the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories (LGANT), a professional association that brings together senior municipal and community government administrators across the region to support effective local governance, collaboration, and capacity building. In his role as President, he helps provide strategic leadership and oversight to the organization’s volunteer boa

Welcome to another edition of The Political Trenches Local Government At Work. Today on the show, discussing viability in local government, how municipalities deal with funding agreements when provincial leaders change, and three political parties in Vancouver are working together. Then later in the episode, we heading back north of the 60th Parallel to chat with the President of the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories, which is coming up next. -----

Welcome to another edition of The Political Trenches Local Government At Work. It's an honour to welcome today's guest to the show. Michael Paulhus has served as Plainville, Connecticut, Town Manager since August 2022. He brings extensive experience from both the public and private sectors, with a strong focus on fiscal management, economic development, and community engagement. Prior to Plainville, Mr. Paulhus was Town Manager in North Branford, Connecticut, for nearly a dec

Welcome to another edition of The Political Trenches Local Government At Work. Today on the show, we’re discussing the Alberta Government's new universal Code of Conduct for Municipal Councils, The City of Prince George is looking at an AI facility, and then, when is it appropriate to take a call from the Premier without overstepping your council? Then later in the episode, we heading South fo the 49th, to Connecticut, to chat with Plainville, CT Town Manager Michael Paulhus

Welcome to the Political Trenches: Local Government At Work. When you talk about leadership in the North, you often hear about people who didn’t start out in politics at all—they started in their communities. Kandis Jameson is one of those people. Kandis has long believed that strong communities start with strong institutions—especially education. Over the years, she’s served on both the South Slave Regional Board and the Hay River Board of Education, advocating for literacy,

Welcome to another edition of The Political Trenches Local Government At Work. Today on the show, we’re discussing a regional chair in Ontario- who is appointed by the province - is in hot water with Municipalities in his region for floating the idea of amalgamation, a town in Manitoba is hacking the province to court, and the Mayor of Vancouver is in the hot seat for an apology he made. Later in the episode, we are heading North of 60 to chat with the President of the North