Simpson-Miller Examining Local Govt. System in Canada

Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, Portia Simpson-Miller and a delegation left the island on October 23 for a five-day study tour of the local government system in four provinces in Canada.
The tour is the initiative of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and is intended to provide the participants with an understanding of how the municipal system in Canada is structured and the key principles that guide its functioning, including the legislative, policy and administrative frameworks.
Additionally, the delegation will observe good practices and approaches to financing and managing local government operations and the ways in which a range of issues are managed at the local level, in the pursuit of sustainable community development.
Robert Bryan, Executive Director of the Social Development Commission (SDC), and a member of the delegation, told JIS News that the tour was “very timely, in light of our re-organization of the Local Government system in our country”.
He added that the delegation hoped to return with useful ideas that could be incorporated into the reform of local government.
While in Canada, Minister Simpson-Miller will conduct meetings in Ottawa, Fredericton and New Brunswick as well as attend a special Council meeting.
The delegation will also pay a courtesy call on the Mayor of Toronto, before returning to the island on Saturday, October 30.
Members of the delegation are Councillor George Lee, Mayor of Portmore; and Councillor Milton Brown, Mayor of May Pen and President of the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGA).