Federation of Canadian Municipalities

One of the great organisations I have had the honour of working with the last few years is FCM, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. FCM has been the national voice for Municipalities since 1901. It has around 1800 Municipal members from coast to coast to coast and represents over 90% of the population of Canada. While it is a national organisation, this is the logo from this years AGM in Toronto.


I was appointed by Halton Region Council to be their representative on FCM and have been elected to the Board of Directors in 2008. Prior to that I served on the committees I serve on the Ontario Caucus and a variety of other committees. I have received tremendous support from all the Councillors and the staff from Halton and Halton Hills.

One of the goals of FCM is to do advocacy work on behalf of municipalities with the Federal Government and its departments. Also we frequently appear before committees of the house of commons to present the municipal view on issues. The advocacy of FCM has led to Municipalities receiving full GST back, gas tax (which is around 2 million a year for Halton Hills). Also, FCM has the Green Municipal Fund which municipalities can apply for environmental initiatives.

On behalf of CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency), FCM carries out a variety of International projects. Assisting emerging democracies with capacity building and establishing Municipal governments. FCM will have a role to play in Afghanistan and the reconstruction of Haiti.


Halton Region has been recognized as being one of the first, if not the first, Municipalities in Canada to have people on the ground. Ours was by the dedication of our 11 EMS workers who responded to a Halton Staff member’s plea for assistance from the mission he was working at. More can be found at the following link

http://www.fcm.ca//CMFiles/Crossroads%20Spring%202010%20En%20lres1LIC-692010-8371.pdf


FCM is also involved with the following areas of municipal interest:
Municipal Infrastructure
FCM Stimulus Monitoring Centre
Immigrant Settlement
Public Safety
Affordable Housing and Homelessness
Public Transit
Rural, Remote, and Northern Communities
Environment and sustainable development
Municipal Rights of Way
Municipal Finance
Policy Statements
Resolutions
Women in Government
Quality of Life Reporting System
ACT Program
Land Management Project
Annual Ottawa Advocacy days with MP’s from all parties

Last Year when the Town under Mayor Bonnette started the fight against US protectionism, FCM played a key role in getting the ball rolling. The staff at FCM quickly realised the potential downside to Canadian business from the US legislation and helped us craft a resolution for debate at the AGM. I will write another posting on the whole Buy American issue.

The issue spread around the world overnight with media attention from all the major world news papers. An issue started by a Halton Hills business, passed by our Council and supported across the country, then sent to Ottawa was now international news.

Though it took until February of this year to resolve, and it is still not done, the staff at FCM always kept us informed and part of the process. They always looked at it as Halton Hills resolution. They always made sure that we knew it was our resolution and they were working with us.

This year I assisted the Men4Women campaign and offered to have my head shaved to raise money for the scholarship for women FCM offers. We were able to raise over 3200 for the scholarship and Jane Fogal could not wait to get the clippers and help the cause!



The next few years will be challenging for municipalities. Both federal and provincial governments are fighting record deficits. We need to speak with that one collective voice to ensure any cuts are not on the backs of OUR Municipal taxpayers. I hope to continue working with FCM.

We speak loudest when we speak with the power of one voice.